There is a national rail strike scheduled for 19 March 2025 in Italy, which is one of our travel days.
I’m not sure what happens about ticket validity if we can’t travel on that date and have to do so on another day.
We have reserved seats on a particular train (Messina to Palermo) and this constitutes one of our travel days - I’ve already filled in details on our paper Global First Class travel passes.
The rules on travel days seem to be quite strict - do we lose that day’s travel?
If we spend money on another train do we have to claim that on travel insurance?
Answer
What to do if there is a rail strike on a travel day.
Best answer by rvdborgt
I have a paper pass, which is already activated.
OK, but then do not fill in your travel days in advance. Strikes and other unforeseen events are one reason not to do this.
I booked through TrenItalia so I guess I can get a refund of the reservation fee from them, but I’m worried that I will simply lose my scheduled travel day and have to buy tickets myself if we are unable to travel on the day we originally chose.
There should still be trains after mid-day: a regional train at 17:14 (may be delayed until 18:00) and an IC at 19:50. I suppose you have reservations for the IC at 16:00.
You can also choose, if the expected delay is at least 1 hour, to travel on another day of your choice, even if you have already filled in your travel day (this follows from EU Regulation 2021/782). Trenitalia will then have to provide you with a free ticket for that day. If they make you pay, then you can get a refund from Interrail customer service.
You won't loose your travel day, but it's less fuss if you don't fill them in in advance.
Don't activate your pass in advance and don't activate your travel day in advance. If you've already done so, then cancel the activation.
If your train doesn't run, then you can get a full refund of any reservations, or have them rebooked free of charge. You can get a refund from the place where you booked your reservations.
In Italy, there are guaranteed trains: a number of long-distance trains and and regional trains in the morning and evening rush hours:
https://www.trenitalia.com/it/informazioni/treni_garantiti_incasodisciopero.html
It looks like there will be 1 IC and 2 regional trains on a strike day from Messina to Palermo.
I have a paper pass, which is already activated. I know the Italians guarantee rush hour trains during strikes, and strikes can be pretty patchy generally - I lived in Rome for 5 years and there are strikes all the time, most of which amount to very little. This one seems to be a national 24 hour strike. Our scheduled travel time is mid-day, so outside the time of guaranteed trains, unfortunately.
I booked through TrenItalia so I guess I can get a refund of the reservation fee from them, but I’m worried that I will simply lose my scheduled travel day and have to buy tickets myself if we are unable to travel on the day we originally chose.
I have a paper pass, which is already activated.
OK, but then do not fill in your travel days in advance. Strikes and other unforeseen events are one reason not to do this.
I booked through TrenItalia so I guess I can get a refund of the reservation fee from them, but I’m worried that I will simply lose my scheduled travel day and have to buy tickets myself if we are unable to travel on the day we originally chose.
There should still be trains after mid-day: a regional train at 17:14 (may be delayed until 18:00) and an IC at 19:50. I suppose you have reservations for the IC at 16:00.
You can also choose, if the expected delay is at least 1 hour, to travel on another day of your choice, even if you have already filled in your travel day (this follows from EU Regulation 2021/782). Trenitalia will then have to provide you with a free ticket for that day. If they make you pay, then you can get a refund from Interrail customer service.
You won't loose your travel day, but it's less fuss if you don't fill them in in advance.
Thank you for your prompt replies. I’ve fallen into the newbie trap of painstakingly filling in all the details on the paper passes in advance because it seemed like the well-organised thing to do and now I’m caught by those details!
Looking at the Trenitalia site I think we can get a train from Siracusa to Messina within the morning rush hour and then, if necessary, get a later train to Palermo than the 1600, which you correctly assumed we had booked. That means we still get to Palermo that day and don’t have to find extra accommodation beyond that which we’ve already booked.
I’m still very new-fangled with Interrail and have found the process ‘interesting’. I’ll know for again!
Thank you for you help and suggestions. I was just getting a bit concerned, but I think we should be OK.
From Siracusa, there should be a regional train to Messina at 5:06 (may be delayed until 6:00) and an IC at 10:25. I think I'd prefer the IC :)
The strike might also be cancelled. Keep an eye on Trenitalia's page (currently showing a 24-hour strike on 7-8/3):
https://www.trenitalia.com/it/informazioni/treni_garantiti_incasodisciopero.html
You should never fill in anything on a paper pass in advance as you are not allowed to make any changes to an entry on a paper pass. If you enter a travel day in advance and you then for some unexpected reason can't travel, then that travel day is lost.
AnnB - Ta. I’ll know for next time! Just need to make sure our travel days don’t change this time around. We’ve booked accommodation so they don’t need to change!
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