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Passengers in Italy face delays as major rail works announced in August

Tourists were warned to expect long delays and disruption to high-speed services throughout August as Italy's rail management company announced “enhancement works” taking place on many major routes.

Published: 1 August 2024 12:15 CEST
Passengers wait for their train on a platform of Milan's Centrale station in July 2023
Passengers wait for their train on a platform of Milan's Centrale station in July 2023. Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP

Passengers of high-speed trains across Italy were set to face increased travel times of over two hours, route changes and cancellations in August due to “infrastructure enhancement works aimed at increasing the frequency and quality of future services,” a statement from state-owned rail management company Ferrovie dello Stato said on Wednesday.

The works were expected to affect services run by both national operator Trenitalia and private company Italo.

The “worst-affected routes” would be the Turin-Milan-Venice, Milan-Bologna and Rome-Florence lines, the statement said.

The Verona-Vicenza section of the high-speed Milan-Venice route was scheduled to shut for three weeks, from Wednesday, July 31st to Tuesday, August 20th, with the closure resulting in increased travel times “of up to 90 minutes from Venice to Milan and 150 minutes in the opposite direction.”

Service on the high-speed line connecting Milan to Bologna was set to be “partly interrupted” from Monday, August 12th to Sunday, August 18th, with travel times increasing by up to two hours. 

The Chiusi-Orvieto section on the Florence-Rome line was scheduled to close from Monday, August 12th to Friday, August 23rd, with the closure causing “schedule changes, cancellations or route changes” to both Frecce and Intercity trains, as well as longer travel times of up 80 minutes on some dates.

Cross-border routes transiting through Alpine passes were also set to experience “planned service interruptions” due to “upgrade and safety works,” with buses replacing the Milan-Geneva and Milan-Lucerne links up until September 8th.

Ferrovie dello Stato said on Wednesday that Trenitalia passengers had been informed of the scheduled changes via email or text message. 

Customers were also notified of the option to reschedule their journey or receive a full refund in the event of cancellations or delays exceeding 60 minutes, it said.

Passengers were advised to see the Works and Service Changes section of Trenitalia’s website for further information.

Private long-distance operator Italo also published updates on upcoming schedule and route changes on its website earlier this week.

Ferrovie dello Stato’s announcement sparked anger among consumer associations and members of the opposition on Wednesday. 

Senator Raffaella Paita, from centrist party Italia Viva, said “changing train schedules in the month of August, in the middle of the summer holidays, is simply madness”.

Announcing longer travel times of up to two hours on high-speed lines such as the Milan-Bologna one were an “incredible act of arrogance at the expense of holidaymakers and tourists,” she added.

Consumer association Codacons said it was “undeniable” that the changes would undermine the travel plans of “those who had planned to reach their vacation spots by train and the many tourists who will visit our country in August”. 

It also pointed out how the upcoming works would closely follow a spate of major technical issues registered by train operators across the country in July, with a total of 74 instances of delayed or suspended rail traffic recorded from July 16th and July 25th.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Your questions answered on the UK’s new £10 entry fee for European travellers

From next year, European travellers visiting the UK will be required to pay a £10 Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) in order to enter. The Local answers your questions on what that means for people living in the EU or EEA, including EU spouses and dual nationals.

Published: 13 September 2024 12:10 CEST
Your questions answered on the UK's new £10 entry fee for European travellers

The UK has introduced an electronic travel authorisation scheme known as ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) for people paying short visits such as tourists of those visiting family members.

The ETA – which costs £10, lasts for two years and must be applied for online in advance of your trip – is already in place for citizens of some countries, but in the spring of 2025 it will be expanded to include EU and EEA citizens such as French, German or Swiss nationals.

You can find full details of the scheme and how it works here.

The UK government information is largely geared towards tourists, and readers of The Local had questions – especially on how the changes affect people with residency in an EU or EEA country, on the position for EU spouses of a UK national and the changes for dual nationals.

Does this affect Brits who are resident in an EU/EEA country?

This system all depends on the passport you are travelling on, not where you live or whether you have a residency permit for another country.

So in short if you are travelling on your UK passport, you will be treated like every other Brit and won’t need an ETA. If you are a dual national, it depends on the passport you are travelling on (more on that below).

However Brits who have an EU partner or spouse (who don’t have a British passport) should be aware that the changes will apply to their spouse.

Does this limit stays in the UK for EU citizens who are married to a Brit?

ETA, like the EU’s new EES biometric passport checks and ETIAS visa waiver, does not change any of the existing rules around immigration or long-stay visas.

At present, citizens of a number of countries – including all EU/EEA countries and a number of non-EU countries such as the USA and Canada – benefit from visa-free travel to the UK for short visits. Those people can stay in the UK for up to 180 days per year without needing a visa, although they cannot work in the UK.

This category would cover tourists and people making short visits to family. Anyone who wants to stay longer than 180 days in a year, or who wants to work in the UK, would need a visa or to apply for residency through other routes such as the EU Settled Status scheme. This includes EU nationals who have a British spouse.

What changes under ETA is that the people making short stays will no longer benefit from visa-free travel – instead they must apply online for the ETA visa before travel.

Those who wish to stay longer or to work in the UK must apply for the relevant visa or residency permit type, exactly as they do now.

What about Irish passport holders?

The exception to these rules is for people travelling on an Irish passport. Because of the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland, those travelling on an Irish passport will not be required to get an ETA, and in fact nothing changes for them.

The exemption only applies if you are using your Irish passport to travel – if you have an Irish passport but are using another non-UK passport to travel you will be treated according to the passport you present. 

Likewise, UK nationals are also exempt from the requirement – but only if they are using their UK passport to travel.

Do children need an ETA?

Yes, everyone entering the UK will need an ETA, including children and babies. The travel authorisation costs £10 for everyone – unlike the EU’s ETIAS, there is no cost exemption for over 70s or under 18s.

Do I need an ETA as an airline transit passenger? That seems mad if I’m only passing through the airport?

Yes, an ETA is required for everyone, even if you’re only passing through a UK airport as part of a connecting flight. This has sparked fury from the UK’s ‘hub’ airports such as Heathrow, where bosses say the change could cost them up to 4 million passengers a year.

The government says: “Requiring transit passengers to obtain an ETA stops people who may use connecting flights to avoid gaining permission to travel to the UK.”

What about dual nationals?

The key thing for dual nationals to remember is that your passports are not ‘linked’ – so the immigration official that you present your passport to has no way of knowing that you also have the passport of another country.

Dual nationals are therefore treated according to the passport they present. So let’s say you have a UK passport and an Italian one – if you travel to the UK on the UK passport, you will not need an ETA. However if you travel on the Italian passport you will need an ETA.

It is perfectly legal to use two passports while making a trip, so that you can enter the UK showing your UK passport and then on your return to Italy show the Italian passport – this allows you to avoid the formalities for foreigners in both countries. If you are doing this, you will just need to take care when supplying Advance Passenger Information (API) to your travel provider that you are supplying the right information for the passport that you will be using for each leg of the journey.

When does this start?

The ETA requirement is already in place for citizens of certain countries and then will continue the roll-out in two subsequent stages.

Citizens of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates already need an ETA to enter the UK. From January 8th 2025 it will be extended to citizens of all non-EU/non-EEA countries and then from April 2nd it will be required for all EU/EEA citizens (with the exception of Ireland). Find the full list of countries here.

How do I get the ETA?

You apply and pay online before you travel – the UK government says that applications should be processed within three working days but that some could take longer. You cannot enter the UK until your application is processed.

Once issued, the ETA lasts for two years and allows multiple trips – although if your passport is renewed during that two-year period you will have to apply for a new ETA.

Find full details of how to apply here.

Why is the UK doing this?

It’s a security measure and is part of the UK’s plan to digitise its borders. The scheme is intended to reduce queues at the border, “helping to speed up legitimate journeys to the UK”, a government spokesman said.

It is very similar to the EU’s ETIAS visa waiver – due to come into effect in the spring of 2025 – and the US’s ESTA visa, which has been required for all visitors since 2009.

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