Train company intensifies checks to catch commuters boarding without tickets.

There will be increased spot checks on trains in Rome to ensure that all passengers are boarding with tickets, according to an announcement by Italy's primary train operator.

The ticket controls coincide with the long weekend around Labour Day, as part of Trenitalia's "No ticket, no parti" campaign which, in addition to stamping out ticket evasion, encourages commuters to purchase return tickets at the outset of their journey.

The train company said its inspectors will focus in particular on those travelling to the Primo Maggio concert in Piazza S. Giovanni on Friday 1 May.

The announcement comes a month after Rome’s Termini station installed experimental barriers on its platforms to allow access only to passengers with tickets. The measures are designed as protection against thieves, including criminals masquerading as baggage porters.

Since it was introduced, the collaborative initiative between railway officials and police has resulted in a 30 per cent decrease in reports of theft at the station.