The derailment of a freight train at the Castello station in Florence on Thursday caused serious disruptions to Italian railways, forcing the suspension of service in much of the country, the Italian Railways Network (RFI) said.
“Railway circulation is interrupted both on the high-speed line and on the traditional line due to the derailment of some freight train wagons at the Castello station [centro-norte do país]. The infrastructures suffered significant damage, ”admitted the railway company.
Hundreds of people, many of them tourists, fill the central stations of the main Italian cities this Thursday after their trips were canceled due to the stoppage of high-speed trains between Milan (north), Venice (northeast) and Rome (centre). ), which makes it impossible to travel between the north and the south of the country.
At the moment, “the high-speed services of the Milan-Rome and Venice-Rome lines and the Florence-Prato-Viareggio regional line were affected by the interruption, as well as some connections to Florence and from the southern region to Bologna.” , added RFI.
An intercity train from Sesto Fiorentino, with 160 people on board, has been stuck since 2:20 a.m. (1:20 a.m. in Lisbon) and the passengers have not been removed from the place, since they are in an inaccessible area on the outskirts from florence
Until the passengers are transferred, the police are on the scene to help people get out of the cars.
According to local media, the high-speed train service between Bologna and Florence will be restored in the early afternoon, but the normalization of traffic on regional trains will take longer.
The derailment of the freight train brought down some poles and towers that support the cables that supply electricity to the trains and the track.
In addition to the problems at the central and northern stations, there are also problems with the connections to the south of the country. The two trains that left this Thursday morning from Turin and Milan for Naples are delayed and the services are scheduled to replace or cancel five trains that leave from Naples.
The Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, “closely follows what is happening in Florence and is in permanent contact with the RFI technicians,” the Italian ministry said in a note.
Source: TSF
