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Trains, distancing: the High Speed ​​and regional rules

its Arrows and Intercity of Trenitalia and on Italo the distance imposed by the anti-Covid rules must be respected, and recommended by all experts: there must be at least one meter of distance between the passengers. On the regional trains, however, the Regions are the ones who decide: with complications that are easy to guess. Emilia Romagna, Piedmont, Veneto, Puglia, Liguria, are going in the direction of liberalizing the possibility of sitting where you want in order not to have full convoys and raging tourists and commuters on the docks. But the risk of confusing passengers and inadvertently fueling infections.

From Piedmont to Puglia

We have been asking the government for weeks – he explains the councilor for Transport of Piedmont Marco Gabusi – to intervene on the elimination of physical distancing on board the trains in order to return to a complete offer of seats and thus avoid the overcrowding that has been taking place since the regional borders were opened. From Rome we received no reply. So we decided to proceed independently: we are awaiting the opinion of the Piedmontese Scientific Technical Committee and the task force led by Professor Fazio to proceed with the order that President Cirio wants to sign as soon as possible. The health data of Piedmont are good, so we hope to receive a positive opinion shortly. The governor of Veneto, Luca Zaia, did not wait for any opinion: e Friday he signed the ordinance that canceled the capacity limits on the means of transport (buses, regional trains and vaporetto), meeting the commuter protests. On any means of transport you need the mask – he specified for Zaia, underlining that for the regional railway trains it will not be possible to barter the new greater capacity with a reduction of the circulating vehicles – from the moment you go up to the one you go down. Also in Emilia Romagna from Friday the seats on regional and local buses and trains will all be 100% occupied. This is foreseen in the order signed by the President of the Region, Stefano Bonaccini, which indicates the new measures for local public transport, together with the guidelines for racecourses and some clarifications on the use of swimming pools and solariums. In particular, on public transport it will be possible to derogate from the obligation of interpersonal spacing of 1 meter but the use of the mask remains for all passengers and adequate hand hygiene or, alternatively, the use of gloves, as well as some measures specifications. Starting from adequate information on the rules of hygiene and behavior to be adopted and the prohibition on using the means in the presence of signs / symptoms of acute respiratory infections (e.g. fever, cough, difficulty in breathing). The inlet and outlet remain separate and the air exchange must be guaranteed constantly and periodic cleaning and disinfection of the vehicles is also provided, with particular reference to the most frequently touched surfaces and to the toilets. A similar order was signed by the Governor of Puglia Michele Emiliano, who from the first of July gives the go-ahead to the resumption of public transport with no limitations on seating and with the specification that for air conditioners on board, if technically possible, totally exclude the air recirculation function, or at least ensure the complete exchange of internal air at least every 15 minutes.

The Milanese fleeing to the Ligurian sea

Free all in Liguria too, from Friday, with a small detail that makes management more complex: many of the passengers bound for the region, especially to the seaside resorts, are from Lombardy. And in Lombardy the rules of distancing remain. In fact, chaos broke out at Milan Central Station on Saturday morning. The difficulties were recorded early in the morning, in particular on the Milan-Genoa regional train, which leaves from the Central Station at 8.30. After all the seats were occupied (halved compared to normal capacity due to the spacing provided for the contrast to Covid-19), people started stationing in the corridors and on the entrances. At that point, the authorities took steps to get the people down, amid protests by those concerned. In the end the train managed to leave, with an hour late, around 9.30 am and an extraordinary train was set up with departure one hour later. What happened? According to Ferrovie dello Stato, many were without tickets, and checks delayed departure. But in general in the interregionals that leave from one region and head to another, explain from Ferrovie dello Stato, if the train leaves and arrives in two regions with different rules, the 50% rule applies: therefore if a train starts and ends the his run in a region that has decided to remove the rule of distancing, well. But if it is not so, then Ferrovie imposes the maintenance of the rule of 50% of the occupied places, that is the most restrictive rule. In any case, Ferrovie dello Stato has activated a ticket sales quotation service on regional trains: but since usually on the premises you go up with open tickets, that is not bound by date and time, you are increasingly focusing on selling tickets closed, ie bound, as happens with national trains.


June 30, 2020 (change June 30, 2020 | 15:18)

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