The protest

Stabbed train conductor, delays and cancellations due to 8-hour rail strike

Eight hours of national strike on 5 November from 9.01 a.m. to 4.59 p.m. of all personnel employed by the transport companies Trenitalia, Fs Security Trenord Srl, Trenitalia Tper and Italo Ntv. The protest has been called by Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugl ferrovieri, Fas Confsal and Orsa trasporti, following the stabbing of a train conductor on a regional train between Genoa and Busalla.

by Marco Morino

4 November 2024Aggiornato il 5 novembre alle 9:54

5' min read

Key points

Strike guarantor appeal, reduce duration to symbolic size
Unions reject Guarantor's appeal

5' min read

Cancelled trains and delays at Milan's Central Station due to the railway strike called today after the assault on a train conductor yesterday on a regional train between Genoa and Busalla. The same is happening at Rome's Termini station where there are cancellations and delays. Rail traffic is at risk of paralysis due to the eight-hour national strike (from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) called by the trade unions Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugl Ferrovieri, Fast Confsal and Orsa Trasporti after the train conductor of a regional train was stabbed by two passengers caught without a ticket on Monday 4 November at 1.30 p.m. The inconveniences are affecting all passengers, including those travelling on high-speed trains. At Bologna station, delays range from 120 minutes for those going to Roma Termini to 35 minutes for those going to Venice. The same happens in Florence. At the moment, the region most affected by the disruption is Liguria where, according to trade union sources, there are 30 long-distance and 50 regional trains cancelled.

The reconstruction of the stabbing

It happened at the station of Rivarolo, on the outskirts of Genoa, where the Ferrovie dello Stato employee had made the two get off. The regional train was travelling from Genoa Brignole to Busalla.

The 44-year-old man, who was transported to hospital in code red, was not in danger of losing his life, but still suffered a serious wound on his left side and only by a few centimetres did the blade not hit him in the chest. The railwayman lost a lot of blood, but was discharged in the evening. The Carabinieri then stopped a North African couple: 21 years old he, 16 years old she. Traffic on the route was severely slowed down with cancellations and delays.

The entire world of transport is in shock, with the unions immediately mobilising. The 5 November protest will affect the entire staff of Trenitalia, Trenitalia Tper, Fs Security, Italo Ntv, Trenord. Therefore, on 5 November there is a risk that both high-speed trains and regional trains will not run. Trenord, the company that manages rail transport in Lombardy, informs in a note that regional and suburban trains and the airport service may be subject to cancellations and route changes. The guarantee bands, from 6am to 9am and from 6pm to 9pm, are not affected by the strike. Trains with a departure time before 9 a.m. and arrival time at the final destination before 10 a.m. will arrive at their final destination.

Luigi Corradi, managing director of Trenitalia (Fs group), says: "The aggression suffered by the Trenitalia train conductor that occurred in Genoa while he was carrying out his job, in the course of his usual control activities, is unacceptable. Right from the start we were in close contact with the medical personnel who assisted him after the attack. We express our solidarity with our colleague and work daily to ensure the safety of workers and travellers so that these episodes are not repeated'.

Matteo Salvini, Minister of Transport, also spoke on the incident: 'And now no clemency for those responsible: such acts must not go unpunished. For our part, we will continue to do our utmost to make Italy safer, starting with trains and stations, as demonstrated, for example, by the extension of the FS Security service. Forget tolerance and indiscriminate reception, after years of the left's wrong choices and open ports, we must return to rules and common sense'. The attackers, a very young couple (he 21 years old Egyptian, she 16 born in Italy but still of Egyptian origin), were identified and stopped by the Carabinieri of the radiomobile department within a few minutes thanks to the description provided by other passengers who witnessed the scene. Only the boy should be charged with attempted murder.

Trenitalia too, in a note, warns that the strike on 5 November could have a heavy impact on rail traffic and lead to total and partial cancellations of Frecce, Intercity and Regional trains. The effects, in terms of cancellations and delays, could occur even earlier and extend beyond the end time of the union protest.

So it promises to be a day of passion for those who have to travel by train. The trade unions denounce that 'this is the latest in a long series of assaults on travelling personnel recorded in recent months'. And to date 'no intervention to protect the staff has been appreciated, not even greater control of the trains by the police'. Luigi Sbarra, secretary of the CISL, observes: 'The wounding of the Trenitalia train conductor in Genoa is a very serious fact. It is really unacceptable that those who only work and do their duty every day are subject to these acts of unprecedented violence. We stand by the transport categories that have been rightly demanding more safety and guarantees for all railway workers for some time now'.

Il tabellone delle partenze alla stazione di Firenze Santa Maria Novella

Strike guarantor appeal, reduce duration to symbolic size

Reduce the duration of the rail transport strike 'to a symbolic dimension'. This is the appeal of the Strike Guarantee Commission. "With reference to the national strike concerning the employees of the companies Trenitalia, Fs security, Trenitalia tper, Ntv-Italo, Trenord, proclaimed for 5 November (from 9.00 to 16.59), following the aggression suffered by a train conductor on the Genoa Brignole - Busanna section on regional train 12042," the Strike Guarantee Commission, while "recognising the existence of the requirements" for the proclamation of the stop ("serious events detrimental to the safety and security of workers"), makes a strong appeal to the sense of responsibility of those proclaiming the strike, so that they significantly reduce the duration of the abstention, to a merely symbolic dimension," reads a note.

The Authority's invitation, addressed to Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugl Ferrovieri, Fast Confsal and Orsa Trasporti, 'is aimed at not adding further prejudice to the constitutional rights of users, which were particularly compromised, in October and November, by a succession of strikes involving the transport sector,' it is stressed.

The trade unions reject the Guarantor's appeal

However, the unions narrowly rejected the Garante's call for a reduction of the strike in the railways. "We believe that it would be irresponsible and contradictory on the part of the trade unions, also towards the users as well as the workers, to compromise the scope of the mobilisation," Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl, Uiltrasporti, Ugl Ferrovieri, Fast Confsal and Orsa Trasporti reply to the Strike Supervisor. In fact, "we would not place the right emphasis on an episode of unprecedented violence, anything but symbolic, both for the millions of travellers we intend to safeguard and for the worker victim of the despicable aggression," they stress in the missive sent to the Guarantor.

TPL strike on Friday to ensure minimum services

In the local public transport strike on Friday 8 November, even in the absence of guarantee bands, minimum transport services will still have to be guaranteed. This was clarified by the Strike Authority in view of the upcoming strike, explaining in particular that in the time slots that will be decided at the local level, 'urban and suburban transport services will be guaranteed by using 30% of the travelling personnel'.

Marco Morinovicecaporedattore
- @marcomorino
Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Italiano, francese
Argomenti: Infrastrutture, trasporti, logistica
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