Italy Travel Planning
Italy Strike 20 November 2026: Trains and Flights Run, Rail Stops on Saturday
Trains and flights are excluded from Italy's general strike on 20 November 2026, but a rail strike runs from 21:00 that Friday to 20:00 Saturday. What to know.
Trains and flights will run during Italy's general strike on Friday 20 November 2026.
The Commissione di Garanzia, the authority that oversees strikes in essential services, ruled rail and air transport out of the walkout, and the CGIL and its transport union Filt said they had been forced to exempt those workers, as Adnkronos reported on 13 November. The rail stoppage first announced from Thursday evening is off.
The trouble moves to the weekend. A separate rail strike runs from Friday night into Saturday, and air traffic controllers stop for four hours on Saturday afternoon.
Quick answer
Friday 20 November: general strike in schools, offices, health and part of local transport. Trains and flights are excluded.
Rail strike: from 21:00 on Friday 20 to 20:00 on Saturday 21 November.
Guaranteed regional trains: 6:00 to 9:00 and 18:00 to 21:00.
Flights: air traffic control strike on Saturday 21 November, 13:00 to 17:00.
Sunday 22 November: 24-hour strikes at Milan Malpensa (air traffic control) and among security staff at Venice airport.
Friday: the general strike
The CGIL called a 24-hour general strike across the public and private sectors, over wages, pensions and the budget. Schools, public offices, hospitals and council services can all be affected.
Trains, planes and rail freight are excluded in full, according to the list published by Trasporti-Italia. Local transport is different. It is not excluded as a whole, but a long list of companies is, among them ATM in Milan, ANM and EAV in Naples, AMTAB in Bari and SAD in South Tyrol.
Where city buses and metros do strike, each company sets its own guaranteed bands. They usually cover the morning until about 8:30 or 9:00 and the late afternoon from 17:00 to 20:00, as Il Sole 24 Ore summarised. In Rome, ATAC normally publishes its times a few days before the strike.
Friday night to Saturday: the rail strike
Saturday is the hard day. The rail walkout called by CUB Trasporti and SGB Ferrovie starts at 21:00 on Friday 20 and ends at 20:00 on Saturday 21 November. It covers the railway companies, so Trenitalia, Italo and the regional operators can all be hit. On Saturday the same unions also strike at twelve regional and local transport companies, among them GTT in Turin, EAV around Naples, Ferrovie del Sud Est in Puglia and SAD in South Tyrol, as Money.it listed.
Regional trains are guaranteed from 6:00 to 9:00 and from 18:00 to 21:00, Saturdays included. High-speed Frecce, Intercity and Italo trains have no fixed band: each company publishes a list of trains that will run whatever happens. Check your train number on that list, not the time of day.
Saturday and Sunday: the airports
Air traffic controllers of ENAV strike nationwide on Saturday 21 November from 13:00 to 17:00, which can delay or cancel flights in that window. On Sunday 22 November, ENAV staff at Milan Malpensa stop for 24 hours, and security staff at Venice Marco Polo airport hold a 24-hour strike of their own.
The mistake to avoid
Do not book a long-distance train for Saturday 21 November. A Frecciarossa that runs on Friday may not run the next morning, and the morning band of guaranteed regional trains ends at 9:00. If you must travel that weekend, go on Friday afternoon or on Sunday.
Related guides
Planning a trip like this?
Send us your brief and we will help you get the bases, timing and route right.
• More from the Magazine
Italy Travel PlanningItaly Carnival 2027: The Dates of Six Big Carnivals, From Venice to PutignanoShrove Tuesday falls on 9 February 2027. The dates of six big Italian carnivals, from Venice and Viareggio to Ivrea, Fano, Putignano and the Sartiglia.
Italy Travel PlanningItaly Public Holidays 2027: All 13 Dates, the Long Weekends and What ClosesItaly has 13 national holidays in 2027, and Saint Francis on 4 October is a weekday off for the first time. Every date, the long weekends and what closes.
PugliaPutignano Carnival 2027: The Four Parade Dates and the Seven-Week CalendarPutignano Carnival 2027 has four parades, on 31 January and 7, 9 and 13 February. The calendar from 26 December, the old rites and how to reach the town.