Support and F.A.Q

Marconi Express is the fast and direct connection between the airport, central train station and the centre of Bologna. The running time is about 7’30”.

Marconi Express has a frequency to match traffic demand. During peak hours there are 8 departures per hour in each direction.

Marconi Express operates from 5:40 AM to midnight: to be reasonably sure of catching the last run in the direction of your interest, it is advisable to be at the platform no later than 23:40.

Until 5 January 2025, from 5:40 a.m. to midnight, there is also ‘Marconi Express 949’, the line with 100% electric buses that offers a direct connection between Marconi Airport and the city centre, with its terminus in Piazza Malpighi and no stops in between.

Further information at the following link.

If for any reason the monorail service should be interrupted, the information will be available in real time on the website and a substitute bus service will be promptly activated.

Single tickets cost €12.80, return tickets cost €23.30; discounts are available for families and groups. Children up to 4 years of age travel for free. For more information, see the “Fares“ section.

Tickets can be purchased online, through the Roger app, at the automatic ticket machines in the stations and in the baggage claim area of the Airport, at the Bologna Welcome office located in Piazza Maggiore, at the Tper ticket offices and in many shops at airport, station and city center. It is also possible to access the service directly with your contactless credit card.

The system allows you to pay for your ticket by simply bringing your ‘contactless’ payment card, smartphone or smartwatch with NFC technology close to one of the turnstiles in the Marconi Express stations, both on entry and exit. In fact, it is important to remember to always use the same payment device both on entry and exit.

The system works:

• with all contactless credit cards of the MasterCard and VISA circuits;
• with all contactless debit cards of the VPay and Maestro circuits (the same ones you use to withdraw at ATMs);
• with all contactless rechargeable cards of the MasterCard, VISA circuits.

The system does not work with Postepay rechargeable cards issued by VISA.

For more information, see the page on the Pay&Go Contactless payment system.

Families (up to 2 adults and 3 children between 5 and 16 years old) and groups of 10 or more are entitled to a discount available only online. Further information can be found in the “Fares” section.

All Marconi Express tickets (with the exception of those to and from the Lazzaretto intermediate stop) sold with the Roger app, directly at the turnstiles through the “Pay&Go contactless” system and on the online channel (with the new “Fixed date web” ticket) include the 75-minute supplement for travel on Tper’s urban lines. For paper tickets, on the other hand, sold at self-service ticket machines at the airport, an additional ticket is being created, which at the subsidised cost of 1 euro more than the basic fare will allow the 75-minute urban integration.

Yes, for further details please refer to the mobility manager of your company.

To get the invoice, it is necessary to purchase the ticket on the online channel and flag the field “Do you need an electronic invoice?”. Otherwise, the e-mail you received with the purchased ticket contains a useful link to proceed to invoicing.

No, there are no commissions or extra costs. You only pay the travel fare.

No, this is not possible. However, the service provides up to 8 rides per hour during peak hours, so the average waiting time is only a few minutes.

The vehicle door opening and closing system is operated automatically.

The opening and closing of the doors are signalled in advance by light and acoustic signals.

The staff present at the stops cannot intervene on the vehicle doors.

Each passenger can bring along 2 carry-on suitcases (maximum size 80x50x50 cm).

From the city centre go to the Bologna central railway station, where you can:

• Enter the train station from the “Piazza Medaglie d’Oro” entrance and then follow the signs for the “Marconi Express”;
• Enter the train station from the “via de ‘Carracci” entrance, from where you can directly access the “Marconi Express” station.

Those who have reached the railway station by train can access the “Marconi Express” station by following the signs, without the need to leave the railway station.

Once you leave the “Arrivals” area, follow the signs for “Marconi Express”: the station is on the first floor (“Departures” floor) and is connected to the airport by a pedestrian walkway.

The “Marconi Express” station is connected to the airport by a pedestrian walkway.

People with disabilities or reduced mobility can fully access the Marconi Express independently. All monorail stations are barrier-free and wheelchair accessible. In all of the stations there is an elevator suitable for wheelchairs, with a push-button panel at the standard height. There is a wheelchair-accessible seat on each vehicle. For better management of any additional needs, there are dedicated columns at the Marconi Express terminal stations that allow real-time interaction with the Operations Center staff.

The Flex ticket is generally sent instantly, but there may be times of heavy traffic when the system takes longer than usual to send the e-mail. In such cases, however, the ticket should be sent no later than half an hour after purchase.

Sometimes the e-mail may end up in the “Spam” folder, so please check it.

1. If the ticket purchased online is sent to you within half an hour, there is no possibility of a refund. If you have purchased another ticket in the meantime, the second ticket can be used within one year after purchase.
2. If the ticket purchased online is sent to you after the first half hour of purchase, a refund is possible. Remember that the ticket remains usable within one year of purchase, so you can opt for a refund as well as re-use. If you opt for a refund, follow the procedure at this link
3. In case you have not received the ticket purchased online, please check that it has not ended up in “Spam”. We also ask you to check that the e-mail address you entered during the purchase process is correct. If you are not able to verify this, you can send us a communication at this link, including the FLEX ticket number if you have it, or any other useful information for verification purposes (including a screenshot of the purchase transaction if you have it).

• If the outcome of the verification shows a problem with the the sending of the title, we will grant you a refund for the title (follow the procedure at the following link);
• In case the outcome of the verification shows that the ticket was sent to you but never arrived due to a data entry error or due to a cause beyond our systems’ control, a refund will not be granted.

Tickets for the Marconi Express service are open-date tickets, valid for 12 months from purchase. They are not, therefore, tickets with an assigned seat that require the journey to take place on a specific date and time.

When the monorail service is suspended (due to force majeure, technical reasons or other causes), the substitute bus service is activated.

The Marconi Express ticket remains valid in any case and it is up to the user to choose whether to use it for the substitute service or to keep it for a later occasion.

On the other hand, it is not possible to provide different fares between the substitute service by road and the monorail service.

In the event of multiple payments due to a system error, it will be necessary to fill out the form at the following link and document the purchases, as well as to precisely indicate all data in relation to the time of the transaction (date, time, etc.) in order to verify that there was indeed a problem with the system and to grant you a refund if due.

1. If verification reveals a fault in the system, the reply to your request will indicate how to request a refund.
2. If, following verification, it turns out that the anomaly does not depend on the system (e.g. connection error, etc.), it will not be possible to accept a refund since the tickets are still usable within one year from the date of purchase.

In the event of multiple payments for a FAMILY/GROUP ticket due to a system error, it will be necessary to document the purchases and indicate precisely all the data in relation to the time of the transaction (date, time, etc.) in order to verify that there was indeed a problem with the system and to grant you a possible refund.

To initiate a verification procedure, you can file a complaint at the following link accompanied by all the documentation described in the previous point.

The vending machines will release a receipt if no change is given. To request change, you need to go to the following link; select as “Service type” Marconi Express People Mover monorail service, as “Communication type” Point of sale, as “Ccategory” Considerations on ticket offices and attach the receipt formally requesting change within 30 days.

No refund is due if, following verification, the substitute shuttle bus is found to have been in service within 30 minutes of the exceptional event that caused the interruption of the monorail service, or if the service is resumed regularly within half an hour of the stoppage,

If the substitute shuttle bus has been in service for longer than 30 minutes, a refund of the ticket will be granted.

The system only calculates the right rate if the same card is always used. Dematerialised credit cards, e.g. on smartphones, smartwatches, etc., are read as different cards than the physical card.    If different cards or devices are used, they will be read as different and more trips will be charged. In fact, the use of the card is bearer and it is not possible to check in the event of a control whether a validation was made by mistake or because the second card was covering the journey of a second passenger.

For this reason, no refund is possible in the case of multiple validations with different cards or devices.

The Marconi Express ticket purchased online or through the Roger app is a QR code ticket.

To use the ticket purchased with the app, you must display the QR code on your phone and place your phone in the validator area at the turnstile, taking care not to place your phone on the side of the validator, where you would instead place your smartphone to use virtualised cards or Google Pay.

In the event of a service interruption, the information is promptly reported on the Marconi Express website with a special banner. As soon as possible it is also signalled at the stations and in the monitors: these latter notifications require more time and are limited to cases in which the suspension is expected to be of a certain duration.

In any case, the substitute shuttle bus service is promptly activated and in each station a specific fixed signposting summarises the modalities of the service and rules for its use.

Tickets for the Marconi Express service are open-date tickets, valid for 12 months from purchase. They are not, therefore, tickets with an assigned seat that require the journey to take place on a specific date and time.

The Marconi Express ticket remains valid in any case and it is up to the user to choose whether to use it for the substitute service or to keep it for a later occasion.

• I HAD TO TAKE A TAXI AND NOW I ASK FOR A REFUND
• I HAVE MISSED MY FLIGHT/TRAIN AND I REQUEST A REFUND OF THE TICKET AND COMPENSATION FOR THE MISSED FLIGHT/TRAIN 

As tickets are not date and time locked, Marconi Express does not compensate for different choices made by the user nor for missed connections. A refund of the Marconi Express ticket will be granted in case of suspension of the service if the substitute shuttle bus service is not activated within 30 minutes. Marconi Express recommends in any case – whenever possible – to plan the transfer with a certain safety margin.

In case of service interruption, the information will be promptly reported on the Marconi Express website with a special banner.

In any case, Marconi Express recommends – where possible – to plan the journey with a certain safety margin.

For example: 23.30 euro for a single 12.80 euro trip.

Twice 12.80 euro for a 23.30 euro round trip.

I made a return trip and was charged 23.30 euro + 12.80 euro.

First of all, it must be verified that this is an actual charge and not a ‘pre-authorisation’: some bank circuits in fact check the card’s capacity on different amounts, but then regularly charge what is actually due.

In the event of an actual incorrect debit (a rare occurrence), we advise you to send a complaint to this link, indicating the details of the trip (day, time, etc.) and the card details (last 4 digits of the PAN and BRAND, e.g.: MasterCard, Visa, etc.) in order to be able to proceed with checks and, in the event of a positive response, invite you to proceed as described in the following link for a possible refund.

We recommend that you send a complaint to this link, forwarding a copy of the malfunctioning ticket so that we can check it and, in the event of a positive response, invite you to proceed as described in the following link for a possible refund.

In the event of a negative response (e.g. the ticket is readable), a refund will not be possible, but you will still have a valid ticket to use within one year from the date of purchase.

For example: Badly printed QR CODE

We recommend that you send a complaint to this link, forwarding a copy of the malfunctioning ticket so that we can check it and, in the event of a positive response, invite you to proceed as described in the following link for a possible refund.

In the event of a negative response, a refund will not be possible, but

I USED MY CREDIT/DEBIT CARD TO GET THROUGH THE TURNSTILES BUT AFTER A WHILE OF WAITING WE WERE TOLD THAT THE SERVICE WAS SUSPENDED AND THEY LET US OUT TO DIRECT US TO THE SUBSTITUTE BUS. I HAD TO USE THE TAXI TO GET TO THE AIRPORT/STATION. I REQUEST A REFUND.

you will still have a valid ticket to use within one year from the date of purchase.

As tickets are not date and time locked, Marconi Express does not compensate for different choices made by the user nor for missed connections. A refund of the Marconi Express ticket will be granted in case of suspension of the service if the substitute shuttle bus service is not activated within 30 minutes.

Marconi Express recommends in any case – whenever possible – to plan the transfer with a certain safety margin.

We advise you to send a complaint to this link, indicating the details of the trip (day, time, etc.) and the card details (last 4 digits of the PAN and BRAND, e.g.: MasterCard, Visa, etc.) in order to be able to proceed with checks and, in the event of a positive response, invite you to proceed as described in the following link for a possible refund.

When the monorail service is suspended, the substitute shuttle bus service is activated.

The Marconi Express ticket remains valid in any case and it is up to the user to choose whether to use it for the replacement service or keep it for a later occasion.

There are no refunds.

Marconi Express does not compensate for missed connections.

Marconi Express recommends in any case – where possible – to plan the transfer with a certain safety margin.

The strike will be communicated by Marconi Express in compliance with the timing in which it is called by the trade unions. In no case Marconi Express can be held responsible for inconveniences due to the strike.

Marconi Express does not compensate for missed connections.

Marconi Express recommends in any case – where possible – to plan the transfer with a certain safety margin.

The Marconi Express is a connecting service between the airport and Bologna Central station, with an intermediate stop at Lazzaretto.

The service runs from 5:40 a.m. to midnight.

Considering the average journey time, to be reasonably sure of catching the last run in the direction of your interest it is advisable to be at the platform no later than 23:40. The midnight hour is in fact the time at which all activities must cease, as stipulated in the service authorisation, not the guaranteed departure time of the last run in each direction.

Journey times may vary, but they are still around 7’30”, while the frequency of runs changes depending on the time of day and the crowding on the quayside.

It is therefore not possible to predict exactly in which direction the last run will be made because this depends on the performance of the service throughout the day. Exactly the same as in the metro system.

Purchased tickets are not refunded, but remain valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.