Rome’s mobility agency confirmed today that Italy’s state rail operator Trenitalia will face a 24-hour national strike starting at 21:00 on Thursday 23 July and ending at the same time on Friday 24 July. The walk-out, called by several labour unions over rostering and safety concerns, comes at the peak of the summer getaway and threatens widespread disruption to both regional commuters and long-distance business travellers. Under Italy’s strike-guarantee law, two ‘protected’ time windows (06:00–09:00 and 18:00–21:00) will ensure a skeletal service on regional routes, while a list of guaranteed Intercity and Frecciarossa trains has been published on Trenitalia’s website. High-speed competitor Italo is not directly involved but warns that network congestion could trigger cascading delays. Airports and urban transport systems will operate normally; ATAC, Cotral and the Rome–Lido and Roma-Nord railways are excluded from the protest. Nonetheless, mobility managers of multinationals based in Milan, Turin and Rome are urging employees to anticipate travel, switch to virtual meetings or book flexible air tickets. Hotels near major hubs report a spike in last-minute reservations as travellers hedge against cancellations. The strike highlights persistent industrial-relations tension in Italy’s rail sector just weeks before the Entry/Exit System (EES) goes fully live at major stations handling international services. Any prolonged disruption could complicate EES biometric pre-registration pilots scheduled for late July.
Source: Roma Servizi per la Mobilità
