Tears in abundance. So bad it’s to cry for. A sad conclusion. No, this isn’t about Ferrari’s heavily disappointing and at times shameful performance this weekend in their home country at Imola. Nor is it about the Italians’ own disappointing outcome of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night (they felt they should have won). No, the real tearjerker this weekend? The incomprehensibly poor public transport for the paying spectators. Reporter Gerard Bos put it to the test on Saturday and Sunday. The conclusion: a big thumbs down.
To be clear: this is not a complaint as a reporter, but a reflection of the poor service provided by the Italians to the many well-intentioned and heavily paying F1 fans and other motorsport enthusiasts.
But my thoughts go out to those many, so passionate F1 fans from all over the world. From Dutch people in Red Bull shirts, to Italians in Ferrari outfits or in Antonelli black from Mercedes, from English people suddenly wearing red Lewis Hamilton shirts and what about Argentinians who have gathered en masse in Imola to celebrate and experience Franco Colapinto’s return to F1.
Powerlessness? Unforgivable
These fans, the real enthusiasts, should be able to travel to a Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna without a care. Without fuss about train tickets, without hundreds of meters long queues on Saturday afternoon at the station and without one train delay or even cancellation after another. Force majeure due to external circumstances? Nothing can be done about that. But powerlessness on the part of the transport provider, as in this case? Unforgivable.
Those fans, the passionate enthusiasts who sometimes save for a year (or longer) to finally attend a Grand Prix, should at least expect good and timely service. These days, in Imola, it is severely lacking. It’s so bad that you almost think: glad it’s soon off the calendar. Toilets, circuit facilities, service, mobile network; it leaves much to be desired; social media posts paint a revealing picture. However, there is no shortage of coziness and atmosphere in Imola, but that is precisely the merit of the fans themselves. They are ‘plus-plus’ in that respect.
To Cry Over
The public transport around the GP Emilia-Romagna is a major drama, TrenItalia shows why the Dutch Railways (NS) isn’t so bad. On paper, it’s not so bad: half an hour by train from Bologna to Imola, half an hour walk through the picturesque city center towards the gates of the circuit that houses so much global motorsport history. Nothing wrong with that, all in all.
However, the reality on Saturday and Sunday during a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend in Imola is stubborn. One train after another in Bologna is delayed, desperate Formula 1 fans run from here to there on the platforms. Half an hour, then forty minutes, fifty and eventually even more than an hour delay; it’s the order of the early day on Sunday morning. And not just one train, several. Communication? None of that. Puffing fans, looking around helplessly and missing the train; it’s all there at Bologna Central.
“This train is 62 minutes late,” eventually sounds through the intercom as train 17543, after standing still for an hour and then driving for another forty minutes, finally arrives in Imola on Sunday morning.
In time for the F1 race? Certainly, plenty of time. Just like for the great atmosphere at the circuit. A gem on the calendar in terms of history, coziness, conviviality? Yes. Everything’s fine. But not really, in terms of transport. It’s a crying shame this weekend.
It’s a pity for the Formula 1 visitors, they deserve better than this. And then the fan-favorite Charles Leclerc is also doing poorly. Woe and alas, the Italian tears understandably flow abundantly. And TrenItalia manages to add insult to injury. The GP in Imola is going off the calendar and will be missed by enthusiasts for many reasons. TrenItalia is not one of them. Arrivederci!
