Lombardy Rail Strike Adds To Italy November Disruptions

Travelers moving through northern and central Italy now face a three step disruption pattern in November, with a new Lombardy rail strike landing directly between an air traffic control walkout and a nationwide rail stoppage later in the month. Trenord staff in Lombardy will strike on Sunday, November 16, from 1000 a.m. to 559 p.m. local time, reducing regional, suburban, and airport services that connect Milan with its airports and satellites. That action arrives two days after a November 14 air traffic control and airline strike window and less than two weeks before a November 27 to 28 national rail strike, so travelers who stack flights and trains across these dates need wider buffers and fallback routes.

The core change is that Lombardy commuters and visitors lose a chunk of Sunday daytime rail capacity on November 16, including key airport links, in the middle of a month that already features concentrated strike risk around November 14 and November 27 to 28. For travelers, that means avoiding tight connections at Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Milan Linate Airport (LIN), and Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY), and being ready to move to buses, coaches, or taxis when trains do not run.

Italy November Transport Strikes

Italian rail, air, and city transport operators have posted an unusually dense strike calendar for November. Strike trackers and transport advisories show a four hour national air traffic control strike on November 14 from 100 p.m. to 500 p.m. local time, tied to air traffic control agency ENAV, alongside a 24 hour Volotea cabin crew action and a midday easyJet Italy crew walkout, all of which are likely to trigger delays and cancellations at airports nationwide.

The same day, Rome will see a 24 hour public transport strike that affects buses and the metro in traditional strike windows, typically roughly from the early morning peak through late afternoon, then again from evening into end of service, with only limited guaranteed bands. That combination makes November 14 a poor choice for optional domestic flights or tight connections through Rome, especially for travelers who rely on local buses or the metro to connect between rail stations and airports.

At the end of the month, a national rail strike covering November 27 and 28 is set to hit Trenitalia, Italo, and other operators for up to 24 hours, with only legally required "guaranteed" services running, mainly in commuter bands. Strike calendars compiled by rail agencies and travel news outlets flag these late month walkouts as likely to thin long distance and regional options across the country. Taken together, November 14, 16, and 27 to 28 now form a sequence where both air and rail capacity dip in predictable but overlapping windows.

Latest Developments

The newest layer is the eight hour Lombardy rail strike on Sunday, November 16. Trenord confirms that staff will walk out from 1000 a.m. to 559 p.m. CET, with regional, suburban, airport, and long distance services all at risk of delays, changes, or cancellations. An English language advisory circulated by Rail Europe and echoed by foreign ministries stresses that services across Lombardy and on airport routes, including trains between Milan and Malpensa Airport and between Malpensa and Bellinzona, may see curtailed timetables during the strike.

Italian strike law requires operators to protect certain time bands on weekdays, but this Sunday strike is concentrated in the middle of the day, which means the clearest guarantee is that trains scheduled to leave before 1000 a.m. and arrive by 1100 a.m. should run. Once the strike period begins, travelers should assume that Malpensa Express services, regional trains to Bergamo, and suburban lines into and around Milan may operate on reduced or irregular frequencies, with last minute cancellations possible if staffing is short.

For travelers connecting from long haul flights into Milan, the most practical move on November 16 is to aim for arrivals early in the morning or in the evening after the strike ends, then allow extra time at immigration and customs so that any pre strike train can still be boarded. Those already in the region should bring forward or push back nonessential trips on Trenord routes, use regional buses as backups, and avoid booking critical cruise or tour departures that rely on same day rail arrivals during the strike window.

Analysis

The pattern in November is not that Italy is unsafe, but that predictable labor actions will keep taking slices out of air and rail capacity on specific days. The United States and Italy both frame the main country risk as terrorism rather than strike related unrest, with Italy holding a Level 2 advisory that urges travelers to exercise increased caution due to the possibility of terrorist violence, not to avoid the country. That means most travelers can still visit, but should treat November as a month where they plan itineraries around known choke points rather than assuming normal operations.

Background

Italian strikes follow structured rules, including advance notice requirements and minimum service bands in certain sectors, which is why November dates appear on calendars weeks ahead of time and why operators can publish guaranteed time windows. In practice, that still feels chaotic for travelers, because the real world impact depends on how many staff participate, how operators schedule the reduced timetable, and whether other events such as protests or weather compound delays. November's mix of air traffic control, airline, city transit, and rail strikes illustrates how different layers of the system can all constrict within the same fortnight.

From a planning standpoint, the November 14 and 16 actions have the most direct impact on travelers using Milan and Rome as hubs. On November 14, risk is highest in the early afternoon when air traffic controllers and airline crews stop work, and in Rome when city buses and the metro thin out or halt during the main strike windows. On November 16, it is the core of the day in Lombardy when Trenord services become patchy. The late month November 27 to 28 national rail strike is broader, but for many visitors it will be easier to avoid entirely by shifting long distance train trips to adjacent days.

Travelers who must move on these dates should stack defenses. That means buying flexible tickets where possible, printing out or screenshotting backup bus and coach timetables between Milan, Bergamo, and major airports, and pre booking taxis for early morning or late evening airport runs. It also means avoiding itineraries that depend on a tight same day connection between a long haul flight and a strike time rail segment, especially when a missed train could in turn jeopardize a cruise embarkation or tour departure.

Final thoughts

The addition of the November 16 Lombardy rail strike turns Italy's November disruptions into a three stage sequence that sweeps from Rome's city transport and air traffic on November 14 to Lombardy's regional rails on November 16, then to national rail networks on November 27 and 28. Travelers who treat those dates as structural constraints and build in extra time for airport transfers and regional hops will still be able to move through Milan, Bergamo, and Rome, but only if they plan around the strike windows instead of inside them. Italy's Level 2 advisory and embassy alerts focus on terrorism, not these strikes, which keeps the emphasis on operational resilience rather than safety panic.

Sources

• Strike November 16 2025
• Italy, Delays and Disruptions
• Strikes In Italy To Affect Air Travel, Public Transport, Trains In November
• Italy Braces For Transport Disruptions As November Strikes Loom
• Italy Travel Advisory