In Campania, controllers return to Eav local trains. Green pass mandatory for all employees
“The new thing from today for local public transport is the return of the controller, but on the task of checking the mask we are waiting for the national negotiation between the government and the unions, who are against it”. This is how the president of Eav, the regional rail and road transport company in Campania, Umberto De Gregorio, explains to ANSA the beginning of the new era of travel on non-long-distance trains, where there is no obligation to have a Green Pass but only to wear a mask.
“In the new guidelines – De Gregorio underlines – I am concerned about the new specification with which for public transport we speak of surgical or ffp2, while those made of fabric, such as the many branded ones we see, are not admissible: this will make the controls more complicated. We will see. In the meantime, starting today, the controllers who had been blocked due to the pandemic to avoid direct contact will start again. Campania has a high rate of tax evaders and for two years there have only been turnstiles to contain them; it has also been an economic disaster, as evidenced by the 20 million drop in traffic revenues in the 2020 budget. Now we can gradually start again, this is positive. In the meantime, for a year and a half, if the train conductor or bus driver sees people without masks or super crowded vehicles, he either stops and calls the police and so it will continue”.
Eav has about 100 controllers for the Circumvesuviana, MetroCampania NordEst and Sepsa lines, a network of over 100.000 passengers per day, for stricter controls it will be necessary to increase the patrol: “I expect – explains the Eav president – that the government allocate funds for new inspectors, but also that it make clear decisions. At the moment the anti-vax are increasing, but we are experiencing the absurd contradiction that for transport workers, even on national trains, the train conductor can be anti-vax: in short, whoever asks for the green pass must have it himself, otherwise the credibility of the sector and of the controls is undermined. We at Eav have vaccinated almost everyone but there is a 10% who have not done so, this hard core remains, this is why the obligation is needed”.
Article published on 1 September 2021 - 11:18
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