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After angry protests about bedbugs and ticks, Italy’s state railways said Saturday it is pulling 508 train cars out of circulation.
Consumer groups had urged travelers to refuse to show their tickets to protest the infestations.
On Friday passengers stormed off a train crawling with bed bugs during a stop in Genoa along the Nice-to-Naples overnight run, and police had to be called to restore calm.
Similar protests erupted during other long-distance runs in recent weeks because of insect infestation.
The railways, Trenitalia, said that 2,800 cars used for long and medium-runs have gotten a clean bill from parasitologists and hygiene specialists.
Trains won’t be allowed to leave stations if “they don’t reach a certain standard of cleaning,” the railways said.
The CUB train workers union claimed the infestations were the result of cutbacks in cleaning crews — from seven to three people.
