In Italy, train leaves early to arrive on time

The train had left the station in Rome half empty

By AFP

Published: Tue 12 Nov 2024, 3:42 PM

Passengers of an Italian high-speed train were left stranded last week after it departed almost one hour early so it could arrive on time, the train operator acknowledged on Monday.

Rome's Termini station had been full of travellers last Friday anxious about the effect of a national transport strike which stopped local buses, trams and the subway.

Thankfully, Trenitalia's high-speed "Silver Arrow" to Genoa, in northwest Italy, was operating, scheduled to leave at 4:20 pm.

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But when it was time to board, dozens of passengers searched in vain for the train on the departure board — only to discover it had left at 3.30 pm.

The train had to take a slower route due to maintenance on the usual line, the railway operator explained. But to arrive on time, this meant leaving 50 minutes earlier.

A journalist from the La Stampa daily was one of the passengers who failed to received a message on their mobile phones alerting them to the timetable change.

The newspaper reported the train had left the station half empty.

Trenitalia insisted only a "small number" of passengers did not receive the alert.

Either way, "the statistics are in order — one fewer late train, one more train on time (if not an early one)", La Stampa wrote.

A Trenitalia spokesperson told AFP that passengers who missed the train were able to take the next one at 4:57 pm or claim a refund.

Trenitalia said its medium and long-distance lines recorded average delays of around nine minutes in 2023. The figure was two minutes for regional trains and around seven for international connections.