He approaches the reopening of the Milan-Bologna high-speed line after the blockage due to a train derailment almost a month ago. According to the technicians of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, the reopening is scheduled for Monday 2 March, after the release from seizure of the infrastructure components by the Authorities.
Let's take a step back. At 5.40 on 6 February a Frecciarossa derailed in the province of Lodi, where the engine would have detached from the rest of the convoy, traveling for another 400 meters and colliding first with a freight trolley and then with a railway shed. Being the first convoy of the morning, the train was not very crowded: about thirty people were injured, while two train drivers lost their lives.
In recent days some have been carried out interventions on approximately 3 km of line and checks on a total of 40 km of railway infrastructure, especially on tracks, switches, sleepers, ballast, electricity poles and safety devices. Once the seizure was over, the technical teams were able to check the state of the infrastructure. The works then got underway, involving over 100 people including engineers, technicians and workers from RFI and the contracting companies, operating 24 hours a day.
"The decision to reactivate circulation on both tracks at the end of the works - underlines RFI - allows for considerable savings in terms of total intervention days".
While on the one hand the situation seems to be returning to normal, on the other Coronavirus outbreaks that have developed in the north are provoking major disruption to railway lines throughout the country. The problems began with the suspension of rail traffic between Lodi and Piacenza, on the Milan-Bologna line, to which trains had been diverted following the accident. Heavy delays also for the Turin-Milan-Rome-Salerno sections, exceeding 90 minutes. Many train cancellations.
For the moment, with the exception of those who live in or have had contact with the 11 quarantined Municipalities, Italians can still move around the country normally, even if in recent days trains have suffered delays, changes and sudden cancellations, due to of sanitization interventions and the adoption of precautionary measures, such as the installation of dispensers with disinfectant gel along all the carriages.
A situation that has led many Italians to cancel their trips. For this reason, Trenitalia and Italo have ordered full reimbursement for all those who have purchased a ticket by February 23 (included) for areas considered at risk. In the case of Italo, however, the refund is provided only for those traveling from February 24th to March XNUMXst.
