National transporation strike in Italy 16 June 2017
Jun 14, 2017, 11:12 am
#1
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National transporation strike in Italy 16 June 2017
There will be a strike Friday, 16 June, affecting local and regional buses, metro systems and trains as well as local and regional air and sea traffic. In Rome, the ATAC buses and trains will run up until 8:30 am and will run again between 5 pm and 8 pm, but a great deal of mobility will be affected all day long and some even as early as Thursday evening. Here is an English language link to more information:
http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/nat...ed-on-16-june/
http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/nat...ed-on-16-june/
Jun 17, 2017, 4:40 am
#3
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Yes, I hope so, too. The strikes are frequent, though, and sometimes they overlap, as they did yesterday, 16 June, when there was a 4-hour Rome strike overlapping with the 24-hour national strike. Maybe the best thing while you are there is to type "sciopero," which means "strike," into a news site search and see what comes up, and then run it through a translator online if you have no Italian. There seems to be one strike or another about once a month.
Jun 17, 2017, 10:51 am
#5
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Good to know, and it must have been nice for the unaffected. In Rome the ATAC busses and trams went out of service and flipped up their out of service signs pretty much on schedule, some even ahead of schedule. I caught a tram at 8:15, and it was one of the last ones. It's hard not to notice that the strike, as is often the case, started on a Friday, making it a 3-day weekend for certain of the strikers. The trams and busses, though, did come back into service between about 5 pm and 8 pm, allowing people to get home from work. The streets, though, were a mess, overrun with stopped vehicles, and sultry with exhaust. As you probably know, what they are protesting is privatization and the possibility that they will lose their jobs.
Jun 17, 2017, 11:06 am
#6
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I'm on holiday, so not a disaster if they had been stopped.
I was more concerned about Alitalia, since I'm flying to Linate on Sunday and was thinking there might be some knock on effect from the cancellations on Friday. So I got up at the crack of dawn this morning and checked in. All good. But of course, it is Alitalia....so we'll see.
I was more concerned about Alitalia, since I'm flying to Linate on Sunday and was thinking there might be some knock on effect from the cancellations on Friday. So I got up at the crack of dawn this morning and checked in. All good. But of course, it is Alitalia....so we'll see.
Jun 17, 2017, 11:48 am
#8
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Strikes mainly affect Italian commuters. Except for flight cancelations and delays, they don't affect tourists that much.
If you are staying where you should in Rome, or anywhere else, everything should be in walking distance. If you have difficulties with mobility there should be enough things to do and places to eat around where you are staying. The train to and from FCO is always guaranteed in the event of a strike, even if they have to hire buses.
Strikes are almost always paused at commuting time to let people get back and forth to work, meaning in the morning everything works until about 9AM, and in the evening everything is working from around 5-8PM. The trains and buses are just more crowded, as there are not as many of them.
Who really cares if there is a strike, unless you are a commuter? It might change your itinerary for that day, but it is not a disaster. 95% of tourists never take a Roman bus or train, and those who do generally know the city well enough to walk to places.
Unless your flight is affected, most strikes are not that big of a deal, except to local commuters, as instead of taking the train or bus they take their car to work which creates huge traffic jams, and they have a hard time finding a place to park and so the streets are snarled.
For the most part, the only problem with a strike is if your plane isn't taking off, and you miss your connection. Otherwise, for a tourist, it really doesn't matter that much if there is a strike.
If you are staying where you should in Rome, or anywhere else, everything should be in walking distance. If you have difficulties with mobility there should be enough things to do and places to eat around where you are staying. The train to and from FCO is always guaranteed in the event of a strike, even if they have to hire buses.
Strikes are almost always paused at commuting time to let people get back and forth to work, meaning in the morning everything works until about 9AM, and in the evening everything is working from around 5-8PM. The trains and buses are just more crowded, as there are not as many of them.
Who really cares if there is a strike, unless you are a commuter? It might change your itinerary for that day, but it is not a disaster. 95% of tourists never take a Roman bus or train, and those who do generally know the city well enough to walk to places.
Unless your flight is affected, most strikes are not that big of a deal, except to local commuters, as instead of taking the train or bus they take their car to work which creates huge traffic jams, and they have a hard time finding a place to park and so the streets are snarled.
For the most part, the only problem with a strike is if your plane isn't taking off, and you miss your connection. Otherwise, for a tourist, it really doesn't matter that much if there is a strike.
Last edited by Perche; Jun 17, 2017 at 12:33 pm
Jun 17, 2017, 2:11 pm
#9
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Alitalia informed all passengers of domestic flights on Friday and early Saturday to call their special information line to rebook or cancel.
My thought was these bookings could be pushed into Saturday pm and perhaps Sunday am. They run flights almost hourly between NAP and LIN, so I wasn't particularly worried about getting bumped, but I'm on an Economy Light fare (56€), so I wanted to get seat assignments as early as I could. Which worked out fine. All six seats are together. Plus my bag is no longer carry-on compliant so I had to purchase checked baggage (20€).
Interestingly, a standard economy ticket allowing one checked bag and seat selection at purchase costs more than 100€.
My thought was these bookings could be pushed into Saturday pm and perhaps Sunday am. They run flights almost hourly between NAP and LIN, so I wasn't particularly worried about getting bumped, but I'm on an Economy Light fare (56€), so I wanted to get seat assignments as early as I could. Which worked out fine. All six seats are together. Plus my bag is no longer carry-on compliant so I had to purchase checked baggage (20€).
Interestingly, a standard economy ticket allowing one checked bag and seat selection at purchase costs more than 100€.
Jun 18, 2017, 4:59 am
#10
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Strikes mainly affect Italian commuters. Except for flight cancelations and delays, they don't affect tourists that much.
If you are staying where you should in Rome, or anywhere else, everything should be in walking distance. If you have difficulties with mobility there should be enough things to do and places to eat around where you are staying. The train to and from FCO is always guaranteed in the event of a strike, even if they have to hire buses.
Strikes are almost always paused at commuting time to let people get back and forth to work, meaning in the morning everything works until about 9AM, and in the evening everything is working from around 5-8PM. The trains and buses are just more crowded, as there are not as many of them.
Who really cares if there is a strike, unless you are a commuter? It might change your itinerary for that day, but it is not a disaster. 95% of tourists never take a Roman bus or train, and those who do generally know the city well enough to walk to places.
Unless your flight is affected, most strikes are not that big of a deal, except to local commuters, as instead of taking the train or bus they take their car to work which creates huge traffic jams, and they have a hard time finding a place to park and so the streets are snarled.
For the most part, the only problem with a strike is if your plane isn't taking off, and you miss your connection. Otherwise, for a tourist, it really doesn't matter that much if there is a strike.
If you are staying where you should in Rome, or anywhere else, everything should be in walking distance. If you have difficulties with mobility there should be enough things to do and places to eat around where you are staying. The train to and from FCO is always guaranteed in the event of a strike, even if they have to hire buses.
Strikes are almost always paused at commuting time to let people get back and forth to work, meaning in the morning everything works until about 9AM, and in the evening everything is working from around 5-8PM. The trains and buses are just more crowded, as there are not as many of them.
Who really cares if there is a strike, unless you are a commuter? It might change your itinerary for that day, but it is not a disaster. 95% of tourists never take a Roman bus or train, and those who do generally know the city well enough to walk to places.
Unless your flight is affected, most strikes are not that big of a deal, except to local commuters, as instead of taking the train or bus they take their car to work which creates huge traffic jams, and they have a hard time finding a place to park and so the streets are snarled.
For the most part, the only problem with a strike is if your plane isn't taking off, and you miss your connection. Otherwise, for a tourist, it really doesn't matter that much if there is a strike.
Jun 18, 2017, 7:45 am
#11
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While I don't know the statistics, I do know that many tourists depend on taxis to get around town or to go to or from the the airport or train station, and one of the several subsidiary effects of the numerous transportation strikes in Italy and in Rome in particular is to make taxis scarce. On Friday, the heat index in Rome topped 100 şF, not a good temperature for walking around the city with or without your luggage. I just assume it's helpful to know about the strikes in order to plan for alternative means of travel (booking a car instead of flagging a taxi) or to plan for alternative site visits.
I guess strikes don't bother me that much because I only travel with one roller and a small hand bag, I can walk from Termini to the Pantheon or to Monti, the two areas I like to stay, even if I take a stop on the way. Even if there isn't a strike, I prefer to walk it. Once settle in the city, a strike may change ones itinerary, but that's not too big ideal.
You are right though, in addition to flights being canceled being a disaster, for some getting from Termini to the hotel, and vice versa, that could be a problem if someone is staying far away, like someone staying in the Vatican.
Jun 18, 2017, 2:30 pm
#12
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Yes, I hope so, too. The strikes are frequent, though, and sometimes they overlap, as they did yesterday, 16 June, when there was a 4-hour Rome strike overlapping with the 24-hour national strike. Maybe the best thing while you are there is to type "sciopero," which means "strike," into a news site search and see what comes up, and then run it through a translator online if you have no Italian. There seems to be one strike or another about once a month.
Jun 19, 2017, 3:17 am
#13
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I've flown Alitalia domestically maybe six times over the last eight years (never have tried them internationally), and at least in my experience, I've never had a problem. In some ways, they're easier than US domestic short haul carriers.
I've always checked in online and though it's only my own anecdotal experience, it sure seems like this isn't common practice for Italians. So this time - again - there were maybe 3 dozen people in the check-in line, but the dedicated baggage check in line was empty. We just strolled up, had our 6 bags weighed, tagged, and taken, our carry on pieces tagged for the cabin, and received boarding passes. The paid-for checked bag fee was in the system, visible to the agent.
At Milan our bags came out within minutes of arriving at the belt. The cabin service was professional. And Alitalia FA's have possibly the most stylish uniforms in the air
Overall, I'll continue to choose AZ when train or car travel takes more than 4 hours. If they survive their current financial problems, that is.
(Maybe this post should go to the Alitalia forum, which seems invariably negative about the carrier, admittedly the focus is on international service.)
Jun 23, 2017, 3:56 pm
#14
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I've bookmarked this site to watch for scheduled strikes: http://www.cgsse.it/web/guest/scioperi-in-tempo-reale. We have quite a few train journeys scheduled. The last time I was in Italy I had my plans changed by one of these. Our LIN-FCO flight was cancelled and the trains weren't running so we ended up renting a car and driving down, arriving about 3 am. Rough way to start a quick weekend in Rome!
http://www.ilpost.it/2017/06/23/scio...gno-metro-bus/
Do you think that strikes in Italy perhaps should become a sticky? They are coming so fast now and during such fierce heat and humidity that they seem more disruptive than usual. I'm here, and it's sultry.