Railway workers, responsible for safety on Italian rail tracks, are asking all railway workers to join them in a 24 hour strike from 21.00 on Sunday 16 January until the same time on Monday 17 January to protest at cost-cutting staff reductions on provincial train services which they claim are reducing safety levels. The strike call is not supported by the leading trade unions, but all railway workers are free to choose to adhere to the strike if they wish and railway services could be badly disrupted

The strike call comes following a disastrous train crash on 9 January in which 17 people were killed in a collision between a passenger and a goods train at the village of Crevalcore on the line from Bologna to Verona. The crash has once again raised the issue of security and the state of provincial railway lines in Italy.