rail strikes in italy - how big of a concern?

If you are afraid of strikes, forget Ferrara and use Italotreno instead of Trenitalia from Venice to Bologna. Once in Bologna the hard part is done. To get to Ravenna you could rent a car, take two buses or wait for the first guaranteed local train. I'd rather pay for a night in Bologna than travel on a train overcrowded with teens, but that's just me: The older I get, the less I can stand students.

Among the many Trenitalia local trains going from Bologna to Ravenna, the 8:06 AM and the 5:50 PM are guaranteed to run even during strikes.

Aside from totally forgetting about things you can't control, You can't do more than going to Bologna with Italo and then see what happens.

Railway strikes in August are unheard of.

I thought the preposted strike dates? https://www.italiarail.com/train-strikes-italy

If you are afraid of strikes, forget Ferrara and use Italotreno instead of Trenitalia from Venice to Bologna. Once in Bologna the hard part is done.

Are the potential strikes not going to affect Italotreno trains?

Before we went to Italy last May, there was a strike planned on one of our transit days. People talked about on this forum and there's also website with dates and details. It sounded like all of Lombardy was going to be struck on that day. My heart sunk. Because I'm a planner and like things to run smoothly, I put a good bit of anxious energy into this.

We needed to go from Milan to Como on a local train. The day before the strike, we went to the central station. We couldn't get tickets at a machine. Yikes! Then, we were bounced around to the Intercity Train office. There, a helpful young man got us ticket in quiet coach on a train that left before 9 a.m. the next morning. He assured us it would all be good and he was absolutely right.

After going through it, my advice is to breathe. Maybe some strikes are worse than others but it was something we were able to work through. The American concept of "STRIKE" where everything is shutdown and there are picket lines, doesn't seem to translate into Italian. The long-distance Arrow trains will probably run as scheduled. Local trains may be cancelled or delayed but will probably run during commute times. There will be some trains. Italians need to get to their jobs and to see their mamas, too. It seems, they are willing to take only a certain amount of inconvenience.

I'd say strikes are a time to go with the flow. Somewhere, Rick infers that the best plan is to take whatever train gets you in the right direction. Like with any transit schedule, have contingency plans and build in a time buffer. It doesn't take a strike for trains to be off-schedule and connections to be missed. In retrospect, I gave the strike more juice than it deserved. I certainly didn't want to hear that before I went but everything will work out. I'd be interested to know if others who have been through it felt the same way.

There are always buses you can take. Might take a little longer, but you’ll get there.

Strikes are in the category of "Stuff happens". The good news is they are infrequent enough that you rarely need to worry, or at least that Ven diagram of your plans and strikes, is rare. You also know well ahead when they occur (if you pay attention) and there are usually other options available. Even if a strike is announced, it is usually not all trains on that route (maybe the fast trains, but not the regional), and sometimes, the threat evaporates.

Just plan, and as always, be prepared to be flexible.

Thank you so much, I didn't know they posted strike dates ahead of time. I did go to the website and currently none posted for rail dates we need to travel in end of May. However, have read that dates can change. Does anyone know how far in advance you can "trust" the strike calendar?