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If anti-Covid restrictions on high-speed trains are not eased, as happened first with airplanes and then with local public transport, then Italo in November it will shut down the engines. According to what Mattino learned, as of September 15, the company founded in 2006 will cut 15 connections a week, out of the 80 that are currently operating (110 a year ago).
The scissor kick will not forgive the direct services Rome-Milan. Setbacks are also expected on the Milan-Venice line, on the Venice-Rome-Naples line and on the Turin-Reggio Calabria line. 1,500 jobs are at risk, 5,000 if related industries are also analyzed. Meanwhile, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Paola De Micheli studies a solution to avoid the worst. Already this summer, after surprisingly the government had reintroduced anti-Covid limitations on high-speed trains, practically reverting to the guidelines attached to the Prime Minister’s Decree of July 14, which on the contrary provided for an exception to social distancing on the trains provided that certain conditions were met, the CEO of Italo Gianbattista La Rocca had not hesitated to raise his voice, announcing the cancellation of several races.
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Meanwhile, in public transport, the maximum capacity allowed has risen to 80 percent of the total. On airplanes, thanks to pressure from airlines, starting with Ryanair, the empty seat strategy was abandoned in early summer. Different speech for high speed, still at 50 percent of the allowed capacity, but the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is studying a ploy to reduce the distance in the wagons without increasing the risk of contagion. Also because the fill rate for high-speed trains still averages around 30 percent today and for Italo and Trenitalia, it is therefore even more important to fill with passengers on the routes that have the highest demand, such as Rome. Milan. In the first half of 2020, Italo recorded losses of two hundred million euros due to the emergency linked to the coronavirus. The number of passengers handled every day has plummeted due to the global pandemic, from exactly 60,000 a year ago to 18,000 today. The fleet is made up of more than 40 trains, including 25 Agv 575s capable of traveling up to 360 kilometers per hour. At this time, Minister Paola De Micheli is discussing with the two large national companies, Trenitalia and Italo, the possibility of bringing the maximum authorized capacity in high-speed trains to 80 percent, that is, at the same levels established for the local public transport. . In this way, the proportion of passengers carried by Italo would increase by at least 30 percent, giving the company a breath of fresh air. In addition, high-speed operators in this phase feel discriminated against with respect to public transport, considering precisely that buses now circulate with a capacity of eighty percent of the total, and even more than airplanes, on board of which passengers they can sit a few inches apart as long as they wear a mask.
The order of the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza That has put high speed into crisis dates back to early August and came after numerous protests sparked by Trenitalia’s decision to fully re-occupy the seats of trains traveling at three hundred kilometers per hour. Decision that at the time was also strongly criticized by the experts of the Technical Scientific Committee for Civil Protection. On the contrary, the dpcm of July 14 had established that in high-speed trains it was possible to repeal the separation of one meter in case of compliance with some particular requirements, including an adequate air conditioning system, a written self-certification of passengers . not be affected by Covid-19, the use of a surgical mask and clear indications for an orderly boarding and disembarking from the train. Last update: 12:30 © REPRODUCTION RESERVED
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