Travellers heading to or within Italy face another round of disruption as staff at state rail operator Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) walk out from 21:00 on Friday 27 February until 20:59 on Saturday 28 February 2026. The 24-hour action, confirmed by leading transport unions, will follow hard on the heels of a nationwide aviation strike that grounded more than 700 flights on 26 February. All long-distance Frecciarossa, Intercity and regional trains are at risk, although Italian law mandates ‘fasce di garanzia’ – guaranteed services during the morning and evening peaks. Trenitalia has published a contingency timetable, but industry analysts warn that rolling stock and crew displacement could bleed into Sunday 29 February, a leap-year headache for business travellers with Monday meetings. The strike centres on stalled wage negotiations and staffing levels in the run-up to the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, when transport unions say demand will surge but recruitment has lagged. With air-traffic controllers threatening a separate four-hour stoppage on 7 March, February’s back-to-back strikes highlight structural tensions in Italy’s mobility infrastructure. Corporate travel managers are advising employees to book within the guaranteed windows, allow large buffers for connections and have flexible tickets. Under EU Regulation 261/2004 (air) and national passenger-rights rules (rail), carriers must offer refunds or re-routing, but entitlement to compensation is limited when disruption stems from industrial action. Road-transport operators anticipate a spike in demand for coach services such as FlixBus and Itabus, while car-rental firms at major airports have already reported scarcity of automatic-transmission vehicles for the weekend in question. Travellers should therefore secure ground alternatives well in advance.
Source: Euronews Travel
