Has anyone got any up to date info on what to expect in Italy?
I've just got back from a quick trip Geneva-Munich via Chambéry-Turin-Bologna-Brenner.
No mask issue in CH or FR (though with maybe 30% still wearing them on trains).
FFP2 still mandatory in Italy, even after the 15 June "expiry" of most covid measures.
Masks on at Modane (on pain of being detrained at the next station for non-compliance).
The Frecciarossa trains I was on had a one-way entry-exit thing on alternate doors, with internal signage to the exit doors, and every coach and toilet had a sanitiser dispenser.
Similar on the EC and local trains I used on the Brenner route.
Buses/trams have a sign which essentially says No FFP2 Mask, No Entry.
No problem in stations and in the street however.
My final leg was Brenner-Munich, crossing Austria (no mask mandate except in Vienna) and Germany.
The trains were packed with families returning from holidays in Italy, with many young people.
They were all masked up for the duration, and largely did not unmask for the couple of hours crossing Austria.
On the German border at Kufstein, announcements enforced the mandate.
No mask requirement on stations and in airports.
On the easyJet flight home from Munich, the announcement was to the effect that masks were mandatory under German law but compliance was up to the individual and would not be monitored.
I would guess compliance was about 50%, probably by German passengers for whom it was normality.
From the rail perspective, both cross-border trains were full, so a good sign for rail travel generally.
I shared my hotel in Chambéry with a cheerful team of smartly-uniformed people, who turned out to be the on-board Trenitalia crew for my Chambéry-Milan train next day.
Chambéry is about half way between Paris and Milan, and gives some idea of how Trenitalia resources its new service in competition with SNCF.
I enjoyed their expertly-served complimentary thimble-full of coffee and matching cake, in business class.
And good to know that the railway through Savoy (Culoz-Modane) was built by our very own Thomas Brassey in the 1850s, before Savoy became part of France.
Simply having an open bottle of water on your table should suffice, unless you get an absolute jobsworth.
www.telegraph.co.uk
