Chaos in Roma Termini

This past week has been tremendously challenging for folks traveling to and from Europe. The volcanic ash cloud has caused numerous cancellations. People have been stranded at the both airports in Rome waiting for ANY opportunity to “get out of town.” We’ve had friends stranded in London, Madrid, and Brussels for days. My wife was supposed to travel on Sunday to Denmark but her flights were all cancelled.

As a result there has been a ripple-effect throughout Italy – and notably in any form of transportation. I had the misfortune to travel to Roma Termini Train Station a few times this week – what a mess. Because flights were impossible, train travel became the next best option. And that led to many, many problems at Roma Termini. Below is one of the many signs posted in the train station:

These notes were posted on April 20th. So for the next three days… train travel was impossible. And not to pile on to the frustrations of hundreds of thousands of stranded travelers, but Trenitalia goes on strike for 24 hours on April 23rd. Yep, T.I.I (This is Italy!)

My wife is flying Thursday evening so hopefully the airport congestion will ease and folks can find their way home. One ongoing problem will be the continuing “chaos” at Termini. At least for the near future, much of the normal pattern of travel outside and underneath Roma Termini Station will be disrupted by construction – see below:

The path to the metros underneath Roma Termini is a disaster. Many of the escalators heading down are not working because they’ve changed the direction of the crowd flow – and the escalators are not built to go in those directions. So folks are having to carry their luggage down the stairs. Be prepared if you plan to ride the metro from Roma Termini to your hotel or apartment. For those of us that live here everything is now in the opposite direction! Visitors will not notice the difference but the flow is much narrower and thus much more crowded. Let’s hope they get this done soon!

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