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Rome raises the price of visiting the Colosseum

The cost of visiting the Colosseum, one of Italy's top tourist attractions, will increase by €4 from November.

Published: 23 September 2019 13:32 CEST

Rome raises the price of visiting the Colosseum

Want to go inside the Colosseum? You'll have to pay more from November. Photo: Filippo Monteforte/AFP

The cheapest entry ticket to the Ancient Roman amphitheatre will rise from €12 to €16 starting on November 1st, 2019, according to official ticket seller Coopculture.

And visiting the arena floor as well as the spectator levels, which currently costs €14, will increase to €18.

READ ALSO: For the first time in decades, Rome's Colosseum opens its top levels to the public

Like now, all tickets to the Colosseum will include entry to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. But while combined tickets are currently valid for two consecutive days, from November the basic ticket can only be used on one.

Under the new system, sightseers will have to buy the more expensive €18 ticket if they want to spread their visit to the sprawling archaeological sites over two days.

There's a lot to see in just one day. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Entry to the Colosseum will remain free for under-18s as well as certain teachers and students, and just €2 for 18-25 year olds from within the European Union.

Meanwhile a handful of days per year are free entry for all. In 2019 the remaining dates are today, September 23rd, October 4th, November 4th, November 21st and December 18th.

The Colosseum, which like most of Italy's ancient heritage is owned and managed by the state, attracts over 7 million visitors per year, making it one of the most popular tourist sites in the world.

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German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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