How to survive a strike in Rome

Now that end of the year holidays are gone (by law it is not possible to organize strikes at that time), the beginning of the new year marks the end of this respite: a public transport strike is planned for today, and at From Home to Rome we thought to collect in this post some useful information on this topic.

Even though this particular strike will have minimal impact on tourists, these events are bound to happen again, and it’s better to have up-to-date information!

If you are not familiar with industrial actions, first off it’s good to know that unlike other countries in the world, during a strike in Italy there are never violent attacks, and according to local law a part of the service must always be guaranteed (this is particularly true in the case of public transport: read on!).

In spite of that, a strike can impact your holiday in the capital of Italy. Here’s how to survive it!

Get informed

If you’re planning a vacation in Rome or Italy, or you are about to land, get yourself acquainted with such sites as Wantedinrome, Romeing or the English section at Ansa’s news agency website. They’re not just useful for information about strikes, either!

Use a public transportation app

Commuters in Rome check for bus and subway status on dedicated mobile apps. There is a wide range of similar programs which are free to download, offer an English option menu and are very easy to use. Moovit and Citymapper, for instance, both come with the option of having notifications sent to your device when a strike is upcoming.

Plan accordingly

In all strikes in Rome, service hours are guaranteed to avoid affecting commuters. Therefore, from around 6AM to 8.30AM and again from 5PM to 8PM buses and subway trains, as well as trams, will run in spite of the strikes.

Use this information to plan your routes. If that doesn’t help you, know that public transportation used mainly by foreign travellers, such as the Leonardo Express shuttle to Fiumicino, will operate regardless of any strikes.

Acquaint yourself with public transportation companies in Rome

There are several companies operating in the public transport field in Rome (and Italy, but for the sake of this post we’ll only focus on the Eternal City):

• Atac runs buses, subway trains, light rail trains (example: the line to Ostia) and trams within city limits
• Cotral runs buses connecting Rome with other cities in the Lazio region (for example, to Hadrian’s Villa)
• Trenitalia runs trains (be it trains to other areas of the Lazio region or high speed trains to other major cities in Italy)
• Italo runs high speed trains from Rome to other major cities
• TPL runs suburban bus lines within Rome’s city limits. This is the company that has announced a strike for today.

We listed these different companies because a strike will hardly involve all of them: the most frequent strikes in Rome are Atac’s.

Something like that leaves users free to use Cotral, or Trenitalia’s system of city trains to atleast cover the longer stretch of their commute (for example: the route from St. Peter’s to Termini can be covered by well known bus no. 64 or by train, in just 4 stops).

Look for alternatives

All is not lost! When a strike hits, and you feel like you’re stuck in an area of Rome, look around you: rental bikes may be available, or car sharing services if you’re allowed to drive in another country. If your intended commute is longer you can even look at taxis or a private van or car, such as the ones offered by our partners at Gianni Conti Car Service.

Plus, if you’re in the city center, you should know that all of our managed rental apartments are within walking distance from all major landmarks – so public transportation may be the one thing you’ll never need in Rome!

Keep watching this space for more information about transportation: in the next few days we will be detailing the differences among a taxi cab, a private car service and a Uber in Rome.