LIVORNO. A 50 percent discount on the cost of monthly train subscriptions valid for the month of October on the Tuscan regional lines. This is the extraordinary measure proposed by the regional infrastructure and transport councilor Filippo Boni and approved by the Regional Council, which allocates 1.5 million euros recovered from penalties applied to Trenitalia to this intervention.
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The July disruptions and the intervention on Ponte al Pino
The decision arises from the exceptional disruptions caused in July by the replacement works of the Ponte al Pino railway overpass in Florence and the consequent interruptions of railway traffic. A necessary and no longer postponable infrastructure intervention, which had a particularly significant impact on Tuscan railway mobility and connections to and from Florence.
Words from President Eugenio Giani
“These resources,” explains the President of the Tuscany Region Eugenio Giani, “do not burden the regional budget, but are recovered from funds already allocated to the railway system and come from penalties applied to Trenitalia. For this reason, we decided to return them to commuters through an extraordinary discount on the purchase of the October monthly train subscription. It is a concrete recognition for those who had to face the exceptional disruptions caused by the Ponte al Pino works, an important and necessary infrastructure intervention that had significant consequences on railway traffic.”
The position of councilor Filippo Boni
“The Region’s priority is and remains to work every day so that Trenitalia improves the railway service, reduces delays, and addresses the critical issues that commuters face daily,” explains councilor Filippo Boni. “The discount we proposed on the October monthly subscriptions cannot and does not want to be the answer to the ordinary problems of railway transport, nor replace the work we are carrying out with Trenitalia and RFI to make the service more punctual and reliable. However, Ponte al Pino was a different situation: an extraordinary, necessary, and non-postponable infrastructure intervention that involved the interruption of railway traffic and exceptional disruptions for thousands of commuters, especially on some lines.”
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An extraordinary intervention for an exceptional situation
“Precisely for this reason,” Boni continues, “we deemed it right to accompany the work we are doing to address service problems with an extraordinary intervention in favor of those who suffered the consequences of this particular situation. Our goal is not to give bonuses to compensate for disruptions, but to work so that disruptions decrease and the service improves. This is where we are focusing our efforts, together with Trenitalia and RFI, by addressing critical issues and demanding greater punctuality, regularity, and reliability of the service.”
Resources from penalties and one-time measure
The measure approved by the Regional Council therefore represents a one-time intervention, linked to an exceptional circumstance. The resources, amounting to 1.5 million euros, come from penalties applied to Trenitalia and are directly allocated to users through the reduction of the cost of October train subscriptions.
The resources will return to commuters
“It is expected,” concludes Boni, “that the resources recovered through penalties will progressively return to commuters who suffered an extraordinary disruption. But our work does not end with this provision. On the contrary, it continues every day to address delays, improve service quality, and ensure that those who choose the train to travel in Tuscany can have a more efficient and reliable service.”
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