Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

TRAVEL NEWS

Train derailment sparks transport chaos in Italy

Passengers across Italy were left stranded on Thursday after a train derailment caused the cancellation of dozens of trains, including high-speed services between the north and south of the country.

Published: 20 April 2023 17:20 CEST

Train derailment sparks transport chaos in Italy

Archive photo: An "Italo" train from the private Italian company NTV (R) sits in Venice Santa Lucia station near a regional Trenitalia train on May 30, 2013. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo by Gabriel BOUYS / AFP)

Nobody was hurt when the carriage of the freight train came off the rails at around 2:20 am (00:20 GMT) between Florence and Bologna, for reasons that are still being investigated.

But it knocked down poles supporting electric cables used by the trains, suspending services across the network.

"Deraglia #treno merci a #Firenze: ritardi e cancellazioni sulla dorsale nord-sud. Aperta un'inchiesta" @RaiNews https://t.co/djFZZ9rYxr

— Andrea Vincenti (@Andrea_V_73) April 20, 2023

Italian rail firm Trenitalia announced at least 50 cancellations and delays of up to three hours, while other routes were diverted

“The aim is to restore services by early afternoon,” the transport and infrastructure ministry said in a statement.

Around 160 passengers were stuck on a regional train for several hours until coaches arrived to take them to the station in Florence.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

UPDATE: Italy's government postpones nationwide rail strike on Sunday

Passengers travelling across Italy by train were expected to face disruption this weekend as staff at state-owned railway operator Ferrovie dello Stato – which includes Trenitalia, Trenord and Trenitalia Tper – and private company Italo planned to strike from 3am on Sunday, May 19th to 2am on Monday, May 20th, for a total of 23 hours.

But Italy’s transport ministry on Thursday issued an injunction postponing the walkout to a future date, saying that the protest may have resulted in “major repercussions and public order and safety issues” at the Emilia Romagna Formula 1 Grand Prix over the weekend.

READ ALSO: Italy’s national train strike on Sunday postponed after government order

The walkout had been called by the PdM/PdB transport union in mid-April to demand the renewal of collective labour agreements in the rail transport sector.

The planned protest was set to affect all types of rail travel, from long-distance services to regional and local ones, with passengers in multiple areas of the country expected to face delays and/or cancellations.

Staff at national rail operator Trenitalia, private long-distance operator Italo and regional train companies Trenord and Trenitalia Tper were all expected to take part in the walkout.

As of Friday morning, the PdM/PdB union had not yet issued a response and there was no detail as to when the walkout would take place.

READ ALSO: The transport strikes that will hit travel in Italy in May 2024

Some Italian media reports on Friday said that rail workers may openly challenge the injunction and go ahead with the strike on Sunday, but there was no statement from the PdM/PdB union nor the involved rail operators supporting this claim.

Keep up with the latest updates in The Local’s strike news section.

Url copied to clipboard!