L’Amat cuts a tram on line 1, chaos and delays between platforms and carriages

Long waits and uncertainty about travel times for those who have traveled on the line 1 "Roccella" tram in recent days, which connects the central station with the eastern area of the city. The rides that until a few days ago had a frequency of about 8 minutes, are now expected to take ten, twenty minutes.

All due to the chaos generated by the new schedule that came into effect on March 3 and the cancellation of one of the six vehicles that traveled on the line. Yesterday at 2 PM, there were about a hundred people waiting at the central station terminal. When someone, impatient from the wait, asked if there was a strike going on, it was a driver from Amat who explained the reason for the disruption: "Unfortunately, we cannot provide precise times because they have eliminated one tram, the same rides that used to be done with 6 are now done with 5 vehicles – the man explained – in 18 minutes we should complete a ride but we can't, and so everyone is accumulating delays and missing schedules." According to the operator, it would be a decision made on an experimental basis that does not seem to be working, as it generates inefficiency and discontent. "If there was one thing punctual - a woman observed - it was the tram, we have lost that too".

Everyone was wondering why there was such a long wait and when finally after a quarter of an hour the vehicle arrived, the crowd rushed in without even waiting for the other passengers to get off. In a few seconds, every free space was occupied. A woman with small children, still on the platform, hesitated to board the overcrowded tram and asked the conductor how much longer they would have to wait for the next ride. "Ma'am, you should get on - the man replied honestly - because everyone is late and the next one will be just as full".

In operation since 2015, the trams have now reached a total of 600 thousand km and therefore must undergo extraordinary maintenance, as explained by the president of Amat Giuseppe Mistretta: "Review that lasts about two weeks and that all vehicles will have to undergo in turn – he said – with one vehicle less, the estimated travel time is only one minute more". Yet, from what has happened in recent days, the delays seem to be much more significant, with one or two consecutive rides completely skipped. "If the experiment does not work – we will add another tram".