The Cinque Terre in the Liguria region is one of Italy’s most popular vacation spots, which has led to the small villages on the Riviera facing the problem of mass tourism. In order to limit this, the prices for train tickets that lead to the seven villages are now being increased. Residents and citizens’ associations are up in arms.
Ticket prices are doubled for all routes in the Cinque Terre between July and August, on all weekends from mid-March and on all public holidays. In practice, the price increase means that tourists now have to pay ten euros for a regional ticket for the six-kilometer route between Riomaggiore and Manarola instead of five euros. In return, residents and owners of second homes receive discounts on monthly and annual passes for local routes, while Ligurian students under 19 can receive free monthly passes.
The many residents employed in tourism have criticized the decision as detrimental to the sector. As the local newspaper “Città della Spezia” reports, the Committee of Associations of the Cinque Terre will appeal to the Council of State, the highest administrative court in Italy, against the agreement between the Liguria region and the state railways. They claim that they have not received any communication from the regional administration about the changes in train prices and that the price increases do not limit the large flows of tourists, which cause traffic problems in the villages, but above all harm families and local tourists.
The use of trains has been encouraged by communities in recent years in order to reduce car traffic. However, the price increases for rail tickets threaten to undermine this, the associations warned.
The villages of the Cinque Terre have a total population of around 7,000. The region is protected as a national park and in 1997 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the municipality of Porto Venere.
