Wednesday May 1, 2024, in addition to being – obviously – the National Workers’ Day, it will also have the flavor of historicity for the Etna capital. For the first time, in fact, during this public holiday much loved by Italians, in Catania it will finally be possible to move as in a normal European civil city, being able to take advantage of thelocal public transport offer.
It has never happened, until now, that it is the iron service of the subway of Fce that the rubberized lines of the Amts network were operational on this day. Just two years ago, for example, Mobilita Catania published this editorial complaining about the absurd and almost total absence of public transport service: It’s a holiday and Catania remains without public transport service.
Flashes of normality, therefore, which we hope to be able to get used to without future steps backwards.
Of course, times and frequencies will be on public holidays: as regards the subwaythis means service from 8.30am to 10.30pm with runs, in both directions (Nesima and Stesicoro), every 15 minutes.
As regards the Amts lines, the line timetables on public holidays can be consulted here: Amts: routes and timetables.
In the near future, we hope to be able to expand Catania’s “normal” ambitions while also being able to count, for example, on night transport.
In these weekend spring, meanwhile, the the historic center is overrun by cars and motorbikes in the evening hours, and see – for example – the subway closed at 10.30pm (the good night metro shuttle service until 2 in the morning was, unfortunately, suspended after the Christmas holidays), it hurts, very bad. Well, this is not normal, even more so in a “live” city like Catania, which is particularly lively at night on the weekend.
A hope of imminent improvement could arise from now imminent (a matter of a few weeks) opening of the two new metro stations, Fontana (Garibaldi Nesima Hospital) and Monte Poon the north-western edge of the municipality of Catania: the obvious increase in users that will result could be a good opportunity for improve frequencies and times. Of course, everything must be appropriately studied and planned on the basis of operating costs, but there is no doubt that Fce, in this sense, will have to make its greatest possible effort to do everything to ensure that the metro offers a service worthy of the name. Possibly with the support of the Municipality of Catania, whose repressive action on wild parking in the historic centre, from Piazza Stesicoro to Via Dusmet, from Piazza Manganelli to Corso Sicilia, could act as a further incentive to use public transport rather than private transport, in moment in which the alternative is made available to citizens.
