Travel Question: Will Italian trains be running on Boxing Day?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Christmas visitors to Pisa will be able to lean on the local transport services (Getty/iStock)

Q I am flying from Manchester to Pisa in Italy on 26 December, and want to continue overland to my final destination, Florence. Will the trains be running on Boxing Day?

Craig P

A Of all the major European nations, only in Britain do trains grind to a nationwide halt on Christmas Day. There will be a few odd services running on Boxing Day, but nothing like a national network – and no trains serving Manchester airport on that day.

The UK train operators say that demand on 25 and 26 December has historically been very low; that they like to give their hard-working staff Christmas off; and that the festive closure is an excellent time for Network Rail to get to work, with engineering projects closing many lines.

Across Europe the tradition is that rail services run, but sometimes to a reduced schedule. There should, though, be no problem taking the new People Mover monorail the short distance from Pisa airport to the city’s main train station. Vehicles depart every five to eight minutes. (You can even walk if you don’t have too much luggage and want to stretch your legs.) From Pisa Centrale station there there are trains every hour train to Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station. The fare for the journey of almost an hour is a very reasonable €11.30. But having said that I find the direct buses from Pisa airport to Florence are faster and more convenient if you just want to reach the city swiftly and comfortably.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder