train strike in Italy June 21
 

Hello, I know that the trains are going on strike for 24 hrs starting June 21 at 9pm. I plan to travel by train the morning of June 21 and on June 22. As these dates are the day so close to the strike dates should I book our train travel here in the states or do you think it will be a problem to wait until we get to rome on June 15 to book train. I don't know how bad things get during strike times. Do they add more trains for the surrounding dates?

Thanks for asking this question. I am interested in the answers as I will be traveling to Rome by train on June 23 and was wondering if the trains would be more crowded as a result of the strike the day before.

Hello, I guess no one out there has been through an Italian rail strike?

In my experience, the Italians aren’t organized enough to plan a rail strike.

The days either side of the stike will be full to overflowing and because some trains are "commuter" trains this also impacts the subway and bus service in Rome on the day of the strike. I would book train travel as soon as you get there and avoid the Rome transportation system on June 22nd.

I was in Italy and slated to travel on May 18 (original strike day) from Florence to Rome. I just brought a Eurostar Ticket (using the self service machines) for one of the guaranteed routes (check Trenitalia.com) a few days before the strike to ensure we had transportation. Luckily, the strike was cancelled and we changed our train reservations (using the self service machines) for an earlier train. Honestly...no one seemed to notice there might have been a strike and when we queried the staff at the station in Florence..they seemed quite laissez-faire about the whole thing. So just buy a ticket for a guaranteed route and then cross your fingers that the strike is cancelled and change your reservations!

If you check train routes on the Swiss rail site (www.sbb.ch) for June 21 and 22, it will show which trains are still running. However, it won't show how crowded they are!

We have been to Italy twice during train strikes and it was my impression that these are "rolling strikes" where they keep changing the routes halted so you just reroute yourself on another train. We had a railpass (and some seat reservations that we couldn't use-a bit of a waste on that front, but not a lot), but did not find it all that disruptive. It might have made for a few hours delay here or there, but nothing like I had feared. By all means, book ahead IF you know for sure which trains will be affected, but, in my dealings with Italy, I wouldn't take what is printed as set in stone!