Need help re: train strike in Italy
 

We are scheduled to travel from Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore) to Venice on 13/9/15 changing trains in La Spezia (of course), Parma, and Bologna. According to the mit.gov.it website (http://scioperi.mit.gov.it/mit2/public/scioperi), there is a strike that I think may impact our travel. The "categoria" that is striking is as follows: PERSONALE SOC. TRENITALIA DI MACCHINA E DI BORDO DIR. REG.LE TOSCANA EX COMPARTIMENTO DI FIRENZE. I know that our trains from Parma and Bologna are Freccia trains and will not be affected, but our train from La Spezia to Parma is a regionale that is scheduled to go through (and make stops in) northern Tuscany even though neither La Spezia nor Parma is in Tuscany.

Does anyone know what generally happens to trains that are traveling through a region that is striking even though they aren't originating or ending in that region? How do I find out if our train will still run? The other alternative is to travel to Parma the day before and spend the night there before traveling to Venice the next day, but I would hate to lose a day in the Cinque Terre.

Also, does anyone know how frequently strikes are canceled vs. end up happening?

Thanks in advance!

Strikes are canceled most of the time. A true strike is rare. You are obsessing cause there is nothing you can do about it. If it occurs, and you will not know till that day, you go to the station and figure out your options.

Not sure about that specific train, but they usually have at least a few trains running - essential services. You might find some more info on http://www.trenitalia.com.

Otherwise, I'd suggest making reservations for an alternative route as soon as possible.

You might want to read a similar post on the same strike http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...3-question.cfm

The key points are:

1. If there is a strike, www.trenitalia.com publishes, a day or so earlier, which trains will run. They give a link that shows something like this relevant to the strike http://www.trenitalia.com/cms-file/a..._garantiti.pdf

2. Notice that the non-Freccia trains that run are either very early or very late.

There are steps you can take beforehand to lessens the pain.

If you have to travel on the day, be prepared to travel super early or late. This means be mindful of how you book reservations on the travel day. If you were thinking of visiting something at CT on the day of departure, get it done before. Similarly, if you choose to travel late, you don't want to have an evening reservation at the destination.

If you decide to travel on a different day, have a fallback plan already in your hand. I don't think you want to start thinking about it from the scratch after you get to the station. It would give you less stress knowing who to call and the number to call if you encounter a strike.

And finally, while it is probably too late, I think about this kind of possibility and configure the itinerary to minimize the pain and disappointments if strike renders one destination not reachable if such reconfiguration requires only a small tweak with no or little cost impact.

The list of guaranteed trains rarely changes much. You're pretty safe in reserving a train on the list.

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom/Treni...antiti-toscana

1. There is no need to book these trains more than 1 day in advance.

2. If the TRAIN STAFF in Toscana is on strike, trains that transit only through Toscana are not affected.

3. Riomaggiore - Venice via Genoa - Milan wouldn't be a bad solution anysway.