Rail services between Italy and Switzerland will not be halted
A previous decision to suspend cross-border train services between the two countries has been reversed after political negotiations.
Two days ago, the Swiss Federal Railways announced a halt in rail traffic to Italy from Thursday onwards. The decision was taken after the Swiss rail operator said that its train personnel do not have the capacity to carry out specific onboard Covid-19 safety checks ordered by the Italian government.
On Wednesday, the Italian transport ministry announced that rail connections would not be suspended between the two countries after all. The decision came after discussions between Italy’s transport minister Paola De Micheli and her Swiss counterpart Simonetta Sommaruga, the Italian Transport Ministry said. According to the Reuters news agency, technical experts from both countries also discussed how to comply with anti-Covid-19 measures while maintaining services, which will gradually return to normal in the next few days.
A stoppage of train services between the two neighbours would have affected dozens of daily routes, including long-distance trains between Milan and Frankfurt as well as regional trains that connect the two countries, where many workers travel daily across the border from northern Italy to Switzerland.
Switzerland and neighbouring Italy, Germany and France had already reduced train services in November.
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