Corte and Ajaccio trains leave from Bastia city, not T1
Corsica Railway Bastia is a city-station connection, not an airport train. From T1 at Bastia-Poretta (BIA), you first get into town by bus or taxi, then pick up the regional rail network from Gare de Bastia for routes toward Corte, Ajaccio, and Calvi. Figure roughly 20–30 minutes by road from T1 to central Bastia in light traffic before you even touch the train system.
The usual play: land at T1, grab the Bastia airport bus outside arrivals, ride it to Place Saint-Nicolas, then walk about 10–15 minutes to the main Bastia railway station on Avenue Pierre Giudicelli. Single bus tickets into town generally sit in the €6–€10 range, depending on operator and season, and run on a fixed timetable, not a metro-style frequency.
Once you reach Corsica Railway Bastia, regional trains typically run several times per day toward Corte and Ajaccio, with more departures in July–August than in November or February. A one-way Bastia–Corte ticket usually prices in the €10–€15 band, with Bastia–Ajaccio closer to €25–€30 in standard class. Travel time from Bastia to Corte sits around 1 hour 30 minutes, and to Ajaccio about 3 hours 30 minutes.
Buying tickets is straightforward: at Bastia station you’ll find staffed counters during the day plus machines that accept standard chip-and-PIN cards. Many services on the Bastia–Corte–Ajaccio line require you to stamp your paper ticket in a yellow validator machine on the platform before boarding; skip that and you risk a fine higher than your original fare. Keep a printed timetable or a saved PDF, because smaller stops along the route don’t always have updated boards.
If you’re landing at T1 after 18:00, check in advance whether your bus to Bastia city plus the next Corsica Railway departure actually lines up; the last evening trains from Bastia toward the interior can leave before 20:00 outside summer. One practical tip: build at least a 2-hour buffer between scheduled landing at BIA and any Bastia station departure toward Corte or Ajaccio, so a minor delay at passport control or baggage doesn’t kill your entire rail plan.