Train Strike
 

I'll be in Italy next week and planned on taking the Eurostar from Florence to Rome Wednesday evening. Will the strike affect my plan ? Or is this just a local strike in Rome. Any help is much appreciated.

Scott

it looks like a national transport strike, which is unfortunate for you! not sure what they're striking about this time, nor exactly how it works (as in, i don't know if it's just one of the trade unions or what). bizarrely in a few places it seems to say the strike is from 8.45 am to 3pm and then from 6pm onwards, and different things seem to be happening in different cities.

having said that, i was in florence during a strike like that last year, and i know some of the eurostar trains were about the only ones that WERE running. sometimes i think it's only the local (regional) transport that goes on strike.

it can be difficult to find out what's going on with italian strikes - no one really seems to know until it happens, so cross your fingers and hope! i would go to the main station as soon as you get to italy (are you arriving in florence? at santa maria novella the staff in the information centre were really helpful - although it really helps if you speak some italian!) and ask what's going on.

by the way, in case you don't know, the word you want to look for (and hope that you don't see!) is "sciopero" (=strike)

sorry, i'm not sure that was very helpful in the end. i just noticed this and remembered the heart attack i had last year when i found out there was a public transport strike on the day i had to get to pisa for my flight...!

What I read said local transport strike. I would take that to mean buses, etc., but probably not ES for a Florence/Rome journey. You may want to email your hotel and ask them, to be sure.

Use this link for strike information in Italy:

http://www.seekitaly.com/news/from_roma.html

Larry J

OMG! I've been joking with my co-workers lately that I'm ready for my trip to Italy and nothing can upset me unless there's a train strike.

I'm flying into Milan early morning on March 9th and was planning to take the Malpensa Express bus and subway to see the Duomo and Last Supper painting, and then a train to Venice in the afternoon.

Will the Malpensa Express airport bus be striking, too? This is going to strand me in Milan for the night, isn't it?

"March 9th 2005: 24 hours nationwide strike (0001 - 2400) of local public transportation. (buses, tramways, subways, some local trains and ferries)."