“I read very carefully the report on the tramway service drawn up bySicilian railway association And I can’t exempt myself from making some important clarifications. ” President of ATM, Carla Grillo, which in a note strongly rejects the accusation launched by the Sicilian Railway Association of “Macroscopic operational and organizational gaps” On the part of ATM and explains why, at the moment, the service records a large number of suppressed runs.
“With the transparency that distinguishes our company since its constitution – says the maximum summit of the transport company – I would like to explain to the city and the thousands of users who daily move with our means that, At the moment, the tramway service is affected by the lack of operators enabled to lead the tramwith inevitable repercussions on the organization and performance of the service itself. At present, the drivers in possession of a license for driving the tram are 19 and with these staff units we are able to put five cars of the tram in service instead of the six in the availability of the company. This circumstance involves in itself a chronic reduction in 17% runs every day compared to general programming. If we add to this – continues the president – who daily have to deal with uncontrollable variables, such as sudden staff diseases or technical unexpected events, it is inevitable that the number of suppressed runs can increase in percentage terms, causing inconvenience to our users, which we have always tried to contain by giving real -time updates on the service through our site and our WhatsApp and Telegram channels. With specific reference to the month of February, for example, the situation further complicated because of the 19 drivers authorized to lead the tram one one retired and two were absent due to long illness. Sorry on behalf of the entire governance for any disservices, I still want to reassure citizens making known that we will soon put an end to this lack of staff. In fact, the procedures for qualifying the tram of 16 drivers will be completed by 14 March “.
“Already at the beginning of 2024 – the president points out – ATM was about to conclude the process for achieving the tram license for 16 operators operatorsto which only the final exams were missing. However, following the accident of April 26, 2024 in which two cars of the tram were involved at the Zir terminus, Ansfisa blocked those procedures to give priority to the investigations on the safety of the tram infrastructure. The good news is that just a few days ago the National Agency for the Security of Railways and Road and Autostradals Infrastructures reactivated the process for qualification and by 14 March 16 drivers of ATM after passing the exam, they will be able to obtain the license and make themselves available to the city “.
“In conclusion, of my intervention, a duty to make patch on some aspects, I invite citizenship to use our buses for travel in the city as much as possible, at least waiting for the entire tramway to be renewed. With the now imminent redevelopment works, which will renew and enhance the entire tramway axis, the increase of the driver staff enabled to the helm of the tram and the arrival of new revamped cars, the service will make a decisive leap in quality and we will leave each critical issues behind. In the meantime, I ask citizens to have some patience and renew the invitation to use, compatibly with their needs, our buses, in particular line 28, the shuttle but also lines 22 and 24, which travel the city from north to south “.