“In words this Region wants to boost tourism, but in reality it completely discourages it. The umpteenth demonstration regarding the Lecco branch of the lake, comes from the latest news from Trenord: it warns that there will be no trains to Lecco on the website and apps, which not everyone has on their smartphone, especially if they are tourists, only a day and a half before. For the rest, no voice announcement, no communication or posting. It is definitely not the best way to attract crowds”. Gian Mario Fragomeli, regional councilor of the Democratic Party, comments on the umpteenth gaffe by Trenord, this time not with commuters, but with weekend tourist traffic. For this reason he has presented a new question, for a written answer, on the lack of trains to Lecco on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June 2024.
“In the text I ask the regional councilor for Transport if the Lombardy Region, which has the task of verifying compliance with the Contract, monitoring the progress of the service, checking the level of quality provided, including punctuality and regularity, is aware of this serious inconvenience caused by such late communication. And how it intends to urge Trenord to provide more timely notices, through all information channels, about scheduled interruptions and not only immediately after the interruptions themselves, in order to minimize the inconvenience on a line that is particularly busy on weekends”, Fragomeli says.
“I remember that just a few weeks ago we addressed, also with the Prefect, the situation that was created in the Varenna station, overcrowded with tourists waiting for trains during the weekend, dangerous and not at all civilized. On that occasion, it was openly said, even by Trenord itself and by the Region, that the objective was rather to strengthen the railway service on the line, to encourage tourist flows with public transport, to have a special eye for the lake and its pearls. And here we are: even an entire weekend without trains and communicated late and badly”, insists the dem.
«In response to a previous question of mine, the Lombardy Region had informed me that, given the increasing demand for tourist mobility on holidays, it had asked Trenord to extend the Colico–Lecco service to Milan and, with the timetable change in June, to complete the RE8 schedule on Saturdays and holidays. On the other hand, the travel time from Milan to Lecco is less than an hour, there shouldn’t be any problems. But today we are in the Wild West, with caravans: it takes hours to get 50 kilometers away. Imagine now that they have also removed the service and warned a moment before».
Yet, Fragomeli is convinced, «Trenord has long been aware of the blocking of departures from Milan to Lecco for June 29 and 30, after 2:20 p.m. After that time, leaving from Milan, it will be possible to reach Lecco only by changing two trains and a bus, consequently increasing the travel time to almost two hours. The summary is one: we can only say to tourists that on the last weekend of June it is better for them to go elsewhere, if they do not want to spend the day between trains and buses and probably have not had time to find out. Incredible», concludes the Pd councilor.
