Italy Ferry Strike And Rail Walkout Hit Winter Trips

Published on Nov 24, 2025, 10:42 am CST

9 min read

Key points

Italy ferry strike December will see a 48 hour Moby and Tirrenia CIN walkout from 3:00 p.m. December 9 to 2:59 p.m. December 11 with only minimum services
The ferry strike affects routes between mainland ports such as Genoa, Livorno, Civitavecchia, and Naples and island links to Sardinia, Sicily, and smaller islands
A separate national rail strike from 9:00 p.m. November 27 to 9:00 p.m. November 28 will hit Italo high speed services alongside other operators in Italy
Italo has published a list of guaranteed trains during peak protection windows, but many daytime and evening departures may still be canceled or retimed
Winter travelers should avoid last sailings and late trains on strike days, add buffer nights near ports and hubs, and favor flexible tickets they can move off the disruption windows

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the greatest risk of cancellations on Moby and Tirrenia CIN sailings between mainland Italy and Sardinia or Sicily and on Italo corridors linking Turin, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome, and Naples
Best Times To Travel: Ferries or trains scheduled entirely outside the December 9 to 11 strike and the 9:00 p.m. November 27 to 9:00 p.m. November 28 rail window or within peak protection bands are more likely to run
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Same day island to mainland connections and tight cross country rail links are vulnerable, so travelers should avoid separate tickets and allow at least one extra connection buffer
Onward Travel And Changes: Travelers may need to reroute via alternative ferry lines, domestic flights, or long distance buses and should confirm change rules before shifting to non strike dates
What Travelers Should Do Now: Check existing bookings against official strike notices and guaranteed service lists, move discretionary trips away from the affected dates, and build in hotel buffers near key ports and stations

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Italy ferry strike December plans are now at risk, because a 48 hour walkout at Moby and Tirrenia CIN from December 9 to 11 and a separate November 27 to 28 rail strike at Italo will cut links between mainland cities and islands like Sardinia and Sicily. The ferry stoppage targets both maritime and administrative staff, while the rail action sits inside a wider national transport strike that will affect multiple operators. Travelers who rely on ferries or high speed trains should avoid last departures, move trips outside the strike windows where possible, and add hotel nights near ports or hubs to protect onward connections.

In plain terms, the Italy ferry strike December period will reduce sailings on key Moby and Tirrenia CIN routes, and the late November rail walkout will trim high speed Italo services, so winter travelers face a higher risk of canceled or delayed links across both sea and rail.

How The December Ferry Strike Will Work

Maritime unions Federmar CISAL, UGL Mare, and USB have announced a new 48 hour national strike at Moby and Tirrenia CIN from 300 p.m. on December 9 2025 until 259 p.m. on December 11 2025, covering maritime and shore based staff. The action is formally notified as a national strike under Italian Law 146 of 1990, which means essential passenger services must still be provided, but operators can cancel a substantial share of departures outside those minimums.

Moby and Tirrenia CIN operate many of the best known car and passenger ferry routes between mainland ports such as Genoa, Livorno, Civitavecchia, and Naples and island ports in Sardinia and Sicily, as well as several shorter island links. Earlier this autumn, unions already staged a 24 hour stoppage tied to concerns about surplus staff, the sale of several vessels, and the discontinuation of the Naples to Palermo route, and they argue that uncertainty for roughly 350 seafarers and shore workers has not been resolved. For travelers, that history increases the chance that even this December action could be followed by further protests if negotiations stall.

Because strike rules require minimum lifeline connections, especially to islands with no easy alternative, some ferries will still run. However, experience from the October action suggests that many departures during the strike period will be consolidated, retimed, or canceled entirely, particularly daytime and evening sailings that are not covered by minimum service bands. Travelers with cars or camper vans are likely to feel the impact more acutely, because capacity on remaining sailings may sell out quickly once revised timetables appear.

Routes And Travelers Most Exposed At Sea

The highest risks fall on travelers shuttling between mainland Italy and Sardinia or Sicily for winter visits, family trips, or onward road journeys deeper into the islands. Routes such as Genoa to Olbia, Livorno to Olbia, Civitavecchia to Olbia, and Naples to Cagliari or Palermo are all likely to see trimmed schedules, along with some shorter island services that share the same vessels and crews.

If you hold a booking during the 48 hour window, the safest approach is to assume your specific crossing could move or be canceled until the operator confirms revised schedules. Travelers who must arrive on a fixed date, for example to catch a cruise or a long haul flight the next day, should strongly consider shifting to an earlier sailing or switching to a domestic flight before or after the strike, rather than gambling on a single departure that might vanish.

It is also important to factor winter weather into plans. Even outside strike periods, rough seas and wind can force last minute suspensions on some routes. When you combine seasonal conditions with a labor stoppage, the number of viable sailings can narrow quickly, so an extra night in a mainland or island hotel is a relatively cheap insurance policy compared with missing a once weekly onward connection.

What The Italo Rail Strike Means For Late November Trips

On the rail side, Italy faces a 24 hour national train strike that runs from 900 p.m. on November 27 to 900 p.m. on November 28, called by multiple unions and covering the FS Group, Trenitalia, Trenord, and private operator Italo. For high speed rail travelers, Italo has issued a dedicated strike notice and published downloadable lists of guaranteed trains that will operate during the stoppage, alongside the usual legal protection windows for essential services in the morning and early evening.

Italo normally runs dense schedules on north south axes linking Turin, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Salerno, Bari, and Reggio di Calabria, plus a handful of other cities. The guaranteed trains list includes a subset of these routes that will either operate outside the main strike span or are designated as protected services, for example selected Milan to Rome, Turin to Naples, and Venice to Naples trains. All other departures are potentially subject to cancellation or major retiming, even if they still appear in booking engines.

Because the strike touches both Italo and FS Group operators, switching from Italo to Trenitalia on the same date is not a silver bullet. Trenitalia will also rely on protected train bands, typically between 600 and 900 a.m. and between 600 and 900 p.m., with some long distance InterCity and Frecciarossa services maintained to connect key cities. Regional and airport services are likely to be patchy, which means airport rail links at Rome and Milan can also be unreliable during the strike window.

How To Plan Around The Rail Disruption

If you already have an Italo ticket, the first step is to look up your train number on the official strike notice and guaranteed trains PDF, which are linked from the operator home page. If your train appears as guaranteed, you still need to expect crowding and potential minor delays, but your risk of outright cancellation is lower. If your train does not appear on the protected list, you should treat your trip as at risk and explore earlier or later options outside the strike window or on different days.

Passengers who have not yet booked and are flexible should try to route long distance rail journeys either before 900 p.m. on November 27 or after 900 p.m. on November 28, choosing non strike days altogether when possible. Where dates cannot move, it can make sense to break up journeys with an overnight stop in a hub city such as Milan, Florence, or Rome, rather than relying on a chain of separate tickets that can unravel quickly if a single segment is canceled.

For some itineraries, long distance buses or domestic flights may be more reliable than rail during the strike, especially on Friday November 28 when leisure and commuter demand is high. However, travelers should remember that the general strike also affects parts of the wider transport sector, including local public transport and some airport staff, so a bus or plane is not completely insulated from disruption.

Background: Italian Strike Rules For Ferries And Trains

Italian strike law is designed to balance the right to industrial action with the need to maintain essential public services, especially for island communities and commuters. For both maritime and rail sectors, Law 146 of 1990 requires minimum services to be guaranteed in certain time bands and on key routes, and regulators monitor how operators apply these commitments during each declared stoppage.

In practice, this means that during a Moby or Tirrenia CIN strike, at least some ferries will continue to operate to and from islands such as Sardinia and Sicily, but crossings that fall outside the minimum service framework are often canceled or consolidated. During rail strikes, selected long distance and regional trains run in the early morning and early evening, while most other services are at risk. Travelers cannot assume that a ticket alone guarantees movement, which is why officials and operators consistently urge people to verify their specific train or ferry in the days immediately before a strike.

For winter visitors, it is also worth remembering that these strike windows sit on top of planned engineering works on parts of the rail network and ongoing fleet and route changes in the ferry sector. Schedules that look straightforward on a normal day can become fragile once maintenance blockages, bad weather, and industrial action are layered together.

Practical Steps For Winter Travelers

Travelers planning December trips that hinge on Moby or Tirrenia CIN ferries should pull up their bookings now, check whether their sailing falls between 300 p.m. on December 9 and 259 p.m. on December 11, and reach out to the operator or their travel advisor for options. Shifting to a day or two earlier, or moving to a sailing shortly after the strike ends, is usually simpler than trying to salvage a trip after a departure disappears. Where alternative operators exist on the same route, such as other carriers serving Sardinia, comparing conditions and change policies can give useful backup if the main crossing is canceled.

For late November rail trips, a similar mindset applies. Confirm the status of your Italo or Trenitalia train against the official strike pages and guaranteed lists, remember that many non guaranteed services may still run but remain vulnerable, and avoid itineraries that rely on tight legal connections or non changeable tickets. Building in a hotel night in a gateway city, separating a crucial flight from a strike day by at least 24 hours, and keeping some budget aside for last minute changes will dramatically reduce the stress if schedules shift.

For those already on the road when the strikes begin, staying flexible is key. Monitor operator websites and local news, look for earlier departures if weather or disruption worsens, and do not wait until a crowded afternoon sailing or rush hour train if you can leave in the morning instead. When in doubt, assume that lines at ticket offices and call centers will build as strike days approach, so acting early usually gives more options.