Trenitalia does about-turn hours before new rules were to come into force.

The restrictions, which were due to come into force on Friday, included a two bag limit for passengers and a €50 fine for those who did not comply with the new rules.

The unexpected about-turn, which came the day after the restrictions were announced and just hours before they were due to take effect, followed protests from consumer associations.

“In light of some requests, including from consumer associations, Trenitalia announces that it has decided to suspend the application, starting from 1 March, of the regulations on the transport of luggage, scooters and bicycles on board the train,” the company said in a statement.

Consumer association Assoutenti welcomed the decision by Trenitalia to drop the measures “pending the discussion with consumer associations which will be held on 6 March”, said Assoutenti president Gabriele Melluso.

The “backtracking” was also welcomed by Andrea Casu, the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) member of the parliamentary transport committee, who said: “The Ryanair model for Trenitalia is wrong.”

The new measures “would have led to increased costs and inefficiencies for travellers from 1 March”, Casu claimed, adding: “At this point, however, we want to see clearly the reasons and the timing of this messy about-turn.”

Photo credit: bellena / Shutterstock.com.