Cancellations, delays

Rail chaos in Italy: nail brings trains to a standstill

(Bild: AFP)

Rail traffic near Rome was at a standstill for a day - because of a nail. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini has already identified the culprit. 

It was a trivial mistake in the early hours of the morning, but it caused a public transport disaster: a nail accidentally hammered into a power cable brought the central stations of Roma Termini and Tiburtina to a complete standstill for two hours.

Rail network plunged into chaos
Electronic display boards failed, trains came to a standstill and the entire Italian rail network was thrown into chaos. The consequences for tens of thousands of passengers were devastating: 35 intercity and high-speed trains were canceled and another 40 were only partially operated. 54 trains were delayed by more than an hour. Thousands of people stood in despair at train stations, while some trains were diverted to alternative routes out of necessity.

Cyber attack and sabotage ruled out
Despite the problems, a cyber attack and sabotage have been ruled out. According to Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, the disaster was caused by a private company that hit an important power cable on the line between Parco Prenestino and Roma Termini with a nail during renovation work.

The company "Str92" was immediately suspended by the Italian railroad company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI). Passengers were offered a small amount of compensation: for delays of 30 minutes or more, passengers receive a partial refund of the ticket price. But the hours of waiting, often without clear information, hardly compensated for this.