With the opening of polls for the regional elections in Naples, a week of excitement is expected for the approximately 60 passengers who use the city's funiculars every day. The election will bring a series of service disruptions and reductions involving three of the city's four cableways, transforming what should have been a normal election weekend into a veritable six-day urban ordeal.
The alarm is once again being raised by Gennaro Capodanno, president of the Comitato Valori Collinari, who has been monitoring the often problematic operation of Naples' funiculars for years.
Stop Repeat: The Calendar of Chaos
The closure schedule is dense and, above all, not accompanied by clear explanations.
Oggi:
Montesanto and Mergellina closed for the whole day.
Chiaia's last bus leaves at 22 pm, four hours earlier than its usual 2.00 am schedule.
Tomorrow, election day:
Service on the Chiaia and Mergellina funiculars is completely suspended.
Monday:
Last bus at 14pm to Mergellina, and at 22pm to Chiaia.
Tuesday and Wednesday:
The Mergellina funicular has come to a complete halt.
A situation that only spares the Central Funicular, the most used with its 28 weekday passengers, but which leaves entire areas of the city uncovered, connected to the rest of Naples only by cableways.
Without shuttles and without alternatives: users left at a loss
The most worrying aspect, Capodanno reports, is the lack of adequate replacement services. ANM has activated two shuttles—one to replace the Mergellina funicular and one to Chiaia—but this measure is considered "completely insufficient."
Riders know it well: on closed days, they wait for hours at bus stops, hoping for a bus that often doesn't come or is packed. To make matters worse, city buses are notoriously stretched thin on weekends.
The polling station issue: 240 ANM employees involved in the vote
The real reason for the interruptions, Capodanno underlines, is as simple as it is paradoxical:
"Every time we vote, it's the same story: instead of improving services, they're cut back. And this is to ensure compensatory time off for polling station staff."
Even for these regional elections, in fact, the usual "electoral exodus" is recorded:
240 ANM employees – including train drivers, drivers, and technical staff – will serve as presidents, scrutineers, and list representatives.
A figure so high that it will put the entire city's public transport system into difficulty.
ANM attempted to remedy the situation by temporarily hiring staff through temporary contracts, but the effort proved barely sufficient to guarantee the bare minimum of bus service.
New Year's Eve: "Citizens penalized, Municipality absent"
The president of the Valori Collinari Committee points the finger at the municipal administration:
"During elections, we should increase the number of people traveling, not reduce them. Citizens need to move more, not less. This situation happens time and time again and is no longer acceptable."
In the meantime, however, the scenario remains the same: the city is semi-paralyzed, the hilltop neighborhoods are practically isolated, and passengers are left to fend for themselves.
A hellish week for Neapolitan mobility
While polling stations open, transportation stops. And Naples finds itself once again dealing with a fragile system, one election weekend enough to send it into crisis.
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