Train strike

If the strike involves Trenitalia, trains will probably stop wherever they are on the 17th at 9pm. Bus might be another option for you. There is also the possibility that during the 24-hour strike period, there will be a few hours when the trains are running, but you should check with a reliable local source about that. I was in Rome when there was a transportation strike in July, but it did not last the entire time it was planned to last, and there were two 3-hour periods where trains and busses were running so people could get to work and home during the day. Your hotel or the Trenitalia customer care office should be able togive you some advice.

Awesome. I arrive at 9AM on the 18th and have already spent 70 euro on tickets to get to Venice (mini fare, so only half is refundable). What a great start to a trip that I have looked forward to and planned for the last 2 years.

Many strikes are announced, few actually occur. Unfortunately you may have to wait till that day to really know if it will occur. And generally it is not a total shut down. For Ted, it is where you learn to roll with the punches. No trip is perfect and European travel tends to have a few loose ends. If it is a strike I am sure the ticket can be traded for another ticket later.

Once again the awesome Ron in Rome comes to the rescue with helpful information: Strikes in Italy

Unfortunately, it looks like we may have to trade our first day and night in Venice for a bus trip to Lake Como. Darn the luck.

Shane and Ted I know it hard to deal with, when I experienced my first few French and Italian strikes I was very anxious. There is an expression, This is Italy. When it comes to strikes, they are part of the Italian culture, and they are also part of the French culture, too, but in a slightly different way. Please read Ron's piece, referenced above. In Italy strikes and threats of strikes are commonplace. Both in France and Italy when strikes are d the union must also post ways that workers and others can get to work and a skeleton service must be provided. Strikes which are announced often either don't take place at all or only last for a short while. With a little extra diligence the day before and the day of the announced strike in keeping your ear to the ground and checking what will be running you should be able to get to your destination without losing too much money or time. I remember, before dealing with strikes became more straightforward, sitting on a train in Milano Central station for about 6 hours before we moved again. But that was a very long time ago, in the early 1970s. I've never seen that again. This is Italy. Enjoy everything there is about the country and this is your opportunity to get stories to tell the grandkids or great-grandkids.

Thank you Nigel and all, and my apologies to for my somewhat snippy response earlier. We will keep our options open. My wife had been hoping that we could go to Como, so this may end up all working out for the best.

But everything should run on schedule before the deadline of 9:00pm, right? I ask because we're set to take the trains from Parma to Venice that day (which requires a couple of trains). We pull into Venice midday, before the strike time. Should we be worried or make back up transportation plans?

Thank you all for the helpful responses. During the months I've spent reading/researching up on Italy, I've read or been told that I have to "ci arrangiamo" (do the best we can) with whatever that's thrown your way. Having said that, I'm gonna roll with it and look for alternatives (just in case) on how to get to Varenna from Milan: 1) Can someone point me to bus services' websites which offers rides to the towns of Lake Como.
2) Does anyone know whether Trenord will be on strike too? I know that Trenord was formed by Trenitalia and FNM SpA but I'm hoping that it runs independently from Trenitalia. That way I can still take the train to Como. Ted, you can still go to Venice on the day you arrive since there's a guaranteed Milan - Venice route which will run regardless of strike or not. However, it's around 5pm if I'm not wrong. Check out the Ron in Rome link provided by Michael.

Everything will be normal until the strike starts.

As Michael posted, everything will be normal until the strike starts - but transportation may be a little more crowded in anticipation. Many hotels post signs the night before a strike occurs, and it's announced on TV. And of course, Trenitalia probably has an app for that.

Thanks Shane. There also appears to be a couple of trenord trains from milan to venice. I am unsure whether trenord is part of the strike though. For those going to Como, there is also a bus that runs there directly from Malpensa. My feeling right now is that if the strike is full-blown and I can't either get onto the guaranteed train, or the trenord is not running, I will simply wait until the next day and spend the first day of my vacation relaxing in Como. I get enough stress at work :)........

When I was planning my trip to Italy this last May, I caught wind of a train strike (on this website) that was announced for the day in which I needed to go from Volterra to Vernazza in Cinque Terre. That trip involved one bus and three trains – on a Sunday. It would have been very difficult to find alternate transportation on that day. I ended up changing my hotel reservations so as to avoid the strike altogether. When I informed the three hotels of my change of plans, they all stated that they hadn't heard of any strikes. Well, there was a strike. I overheard other travels tell their tales of woe, and the one hotel owner thought I had special powers. No special powers involved – I paid attention to this RS site and changed my plans accordingly. BTW, I was left with an extra day in Florence, and one could do worse than that.

Another good link about strikes (reiterating links already shared here). Additionally, it says that: "Two days before a strike, the Trenitalia site generally posts a list, prominently from its home page www.trenitalia.com , of trains confirmed or cancelled for that date. " http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/italy_transport_strikes/ An additional (hopeful) note from the author: September 18, 2011
Train strike: 24 hours, starting at 9 p.m. Sept. 17. I've found that strikes called for Sunday rarely happen, or have very limited participation.

Forgive my ignorance, but what, generally, are they striking about? Is it labor contracts or conditions they're trying to change? If they strike so often, and actually announce the strike so far in advance, and only leave the job for 24 hours, what exactly is accomplished by striking? It seems so very different from the strikes we have here in America. Strange how everybody talks about the strikes and it's effects, but no one mentions what the strike is about in the first place.

It could be anything. Sometimes its politics, sometimes there's a big futbol match on, sometimes its money, sometimes retirement, sometimes it just because they haven't had a strike for a while. Most strikes are local. Its often that a member has been disciplined and the union would rather they weren't.

It's my understanding that there is a certain amount of "muscle-flexing" involved in calling the strikes. They're a gentle reminder not to mess with the transit unions. It's part of the culture, a remnant of when the Communist party was so strong in Italy. (A very different flavor of Communism from the Soviet kind, fwiw.)

Grazie to Michael for posting the link to Ron in Rome's strike page. Using Ron's links, I was able to find out that buses to and from Vigevano (from Milan and Pavia) will be on strike September 15. Naturally, that was the day I had tentatively planned to use those buses. I have now formally added to my pre-trip checklist: "If headed to Italy, check on potential transportation strikes."