What to expect from Italy's rail strike on Friday and Saturday

After a walkout by airline and airport staff on Thursday led to the cancellation of around 300 flights, passengers in Italy face further disruption from Friday evening through Saturday due to a 24-hour rail strike.

Railway staff including train drivers and onboard crew from the Ferrovie dello Stato group will walk out from 9pm on Friday, February 27th until 8.59pm on Saturday, February 28th.

The strike will affect services operated by Trenitalia, Italo and Trenord, and services "may be disrupted, including before and after" the strike period, according to state rail company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.

Here's what to expect from each provider:

Trenitalia

National rail operator Trenitalia has provided information about the walkout (in Italian) HERE.

A list of long-distance routes protected from strike action can be found here.

Guaranteed timeslots for essential regional train services on Saturdays are from 7-10am and 6-9pm.

Information on specific regional train routes can be found by searching the site by region (scroll down to Treni garantiti: ricerca per regioni).

Italo 

Private long-distance provider Italo hadn't made any announcements concerning the strike as of Friday morning.

However, a list of services guaranteed to go ahead on Friday and Saturday can be found highlighted in green HERE.

Trenord

Trenord, which operates services in the Lombardy region including connections to and from Milan’s Malpensa Airport, has published information on the strike (in Italian) HERE.

Though the provider usually only guarantees essential services on weekdays, its usual guaranteed timeslots of 6-9am and 6-9pm will remain in place on Saturday, it said.

A detailed list of guaranteed routes can be found here.

If airport train links are cancelled, replacement buses will run between Milan Cadorna (Via Paleocapa 1) and Malpensa Airport and between Stabio and Malpensa.

What to do if your train is cancelled