” In Naples, in this pre-Christmas period, a new game is all the rage, not very funny, to tell the truth, but we know that Neapolitans, even in the most difficult situations, bring out their vein of bitter irony in an attempt to overcome adversities of all kinds that, in the capital of Naples, have now become a constant, in particular with regard to a fundamental service such as public transport, with the now daily disruptions of both road and rail transport – says Gennaro Capodanno, president of the Comitato Valori collinari e del Trasporto pubblico -. This new game concerns the operation of the Central funicular, on Saturday evenings, when the cableway that daily, on weekdays, transports an average of 28 thousand passengers, should, but the conditional is a must, extend its operation until two in the morning. It has been called “totofunicolare”. The mechanism is very simple: you have to guess whether on the evening before a holiday the last bus will be at 22pm as on the other days of the week, or instead, as recently happened for a short period, until the end of last month, four hours later, at 00am.
"What has determined this situation of uncertainty - underlines Capodanno - is the fact that the agreement between the union and the company that provided for the creation of a third shift for the workers, thus guaranteeing the operation of the Central funicular, with an extension of the runs until two in the morning, expired on November 30th and was not renewed. Since then, the Saturday evening runs for the additional four hours, since there is no longer a mandatory shift, can only be carried out on a voluntary basis, that is, only in the case that a certain number of workers of the company who guarantee the presence on the two trains, in the four stations, and maintenance, with the addition of a service manager, offer their availability to carry out the overtime work ".
"Hence the uncertainty, since until the last moment we are confident that the workers, even those on duty in the two Saturday shifts, could make themselves available - Capodanno points out -. Last Saturday things went badly. In fact, as the many travellers who had the bitter surprise of finding doors and gates closed remember, the Central funicular made its last run at 22:00 p.m. "
” But also this Saturday, as I was able to learn by going personally in the late morning to the upper station in Piazza Fuga, the same situation seems to be expected, that is to say that the funicular runs will end with the 22:00 pm one without any extension of the timetable – Capodanno states -. And also in this circumstance, at least up to this moment, there is still no communication, so to speak official, that informs travellers, nor can we get news about it from the company's Facebook page or from the toll-free number, both active from Monday to Friday, therefore excluding weekends ".
"A paradoxical situation, which penalizes not only the many regular users of public transport but also the many tourists who are in the Neapolitan capital during this period - adds Capodanno -. An event which, among other things, risks having serious negative repercussions for all sectors linked to evening and night-time activities, bars, restaurants, cinemas, theaters, discos and entertainment venues in general. We hope that in light of what is paradoxically happening in this part of December, all initiatives aimed at ensuring efficient and reliable public transport will be undertaken quickly, even in the post-evening and night-time hours, with particular reference to rail transport, as has been happening for some time in many other European cities ".
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