List of rail accidents in Italy

This is a list of the most serious rail-related accidents (excluding intentional acts) that occurred in Italy.

20th century

1940s

1950s

1960s

  • The 1961 Fiumarella rail disaster was one of the deadliest incidents in the history of the Italian railways. It occurred at about 7.45 am on 23 December 1961, at the Fiumarella viaduct, near Catanzaro, in the region of Calabria, southern Italy. The accident occurred as the train was passing over the curved Fiumarella viaduct, about an hour after departing from Soveria Mannelli for Catanzaro at 6:43 am. The trailer derailed from the track, due to the rupture of the tram type draw hook, and plunged into the river below after a falling about 40 m (131 ft). Inside the trailer there were 99 passengers, many of them students. Seventy-one of them died on impact, and 28 others were injured to varying degrees.[4] This was the worst rail disaster in peacetime Italy.
  • The 1962 Castel Bolognese train disaster occurred on March 8, 1962, in the Castel Bolognese railway station, near Ravenna, in Italy.[5] The Diretto 152 night train between Bari and Milan derailed at 1:56 a.m. shortly before entering the station, killing 13 and wounding 127. A special speed limitation of 30 km/h had been enforced by means of an M40 mandatory alert, but the train failed to slow down.[6] While entering the switch between the first and the second track, the engine derailed at 102 km/h and fell to the right side. The train skidded for about 100 meters, coming to a stop against the station's water refill tower.[7]
  • The 1962 Voghera train crash occurred at track three of Voghera railway station, on the night of 31 May 1962. Sixty-four people died, and 40 were seriously injured.[8] At 2:35 on 31 May 1962, a freight train from Milan, hauled by an E626 class electric locomotive, entered Voghera station at high speed, against protection signals set to 'danger'. It then collided with the rear of a passenger train, which was stationary on Track 3, and about to depart for Genoa.

1970s

  • The 1978 Murazze di Vado train disaster occurred on 15 April 1978, near Murazze di Vado, an area in the town of Vado, part of the Monzuno comune, Bologna. A passenger train derailed close to a ravine, and seconds later another train crashed into it. With 42 killed and 76 injured, it is the fourth highest death toll in the history of the Italian railways, after the Balvano, Fiumarella and Voghera disasters. While the official count of the injured is 76, the actual number of injured is often said to be from 117 to more than 120.[9]

1980s

  • On 21 November 1981, two express passenger trains crashed into freight cars near the Vibo Valentia rail station, killing at least 20 and injuring 100.[13]

1990s

21st century

2000s

2010s

2020s

  • The 2020 Livraga derailment was the first crash on the Italian high speed rail network.[23] It took place on 6 February 2020 when a high-speed train derailed at Livraga, Lombardy, Italy. Two people died and 31 were injured.
  • On December 10, 2023, a Frecciarossa train collided with a passenger train in Faenza, 17 people were injured[24]

References

  1. ^ "The world's worst train disasters". Railway Technology. 1 January 2014.
  2. ^ Nick Squires (2 March 2017). "'Titanic of train disasters': Italy finally commemorates hushed-up wartime tragedy that killed more than 600 people". Telegraph. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Railroad Disaster on the Balvano". Trivia Library.
  4. ^ Notes on, and schedules of, FCL
  5. ^ "Il disastro ferroviario del 1962" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  6. ^ Contarini, Maurizio. "Il disastro ferroviario del 1962: testimonianza di Maurizio Contarini" (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  7. ^ Tarlazzi, Giovanni. "Il Disastro ferroviario del 1962: foto-testimonianza di Giovanni Tarlazzi" (in Italian). Castelbolognese.org. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  8. ^ "Tragedia sui binari". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). 7 January 2004. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  9. ^ "La Storia" (PDF). 118 Emilia Romagna. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Transcript of 5 december 1980 Italian Parliament acts" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Incidenti ferroviari in Italia". Macchinisti Sicuri.
  12. ^ a b Nania, Francesco (2010). Una tragedia siciliana – Cronistoria della sciagura ferroviaria di Lamezia Terme (21 novembre 1980). EditoreMorrone. p. 96.
  13. ^ "Train Crash Kills 20". Daily Gleaner. November 21, 1981. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  14. ^ RaiNews24 - Cronaca. Incidente a Roma: morta una donna, 145 feriti, 4 gravi. "Treno passato col rosso dopo ok della centrale"
  15. ^ "Viareggio, salgono a 18 le vittime del disastro". Reuters (in Italian). 2 July 2009. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  16. ^ "Italy court sentences former railway chief to 7 years in prison". Reuters. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.[dead link]
  17. ^ "Addio a Elisabeth la trentaduesima vittima". Il Tirreno (in Italian). 22 December 2009. Archived from the original on 25 December 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  18. ^ Sportelli, Francesco; Winfield, Nicole (12 July 2016). "Italy train crash probe examines delays, antiquated control". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  19. ^ "Scontro fra treni in Puglia, identificate le 23 vittime. Mattarella visiterà la camera ardente" [Clash of trains in Puglia, identified 23 victims. Mattarella will visit the funeral home]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 13 July 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  20. ^ "The Latest: At Least a Dozen Dead in Italy Train Crash". The New York Times. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  21. ^ "Italy train crash: 'Twenty-three killed' near Bari in collision". BBC. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  22. ^ "Milan train crash: at least two people killed after derailment". The Guardian. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  23. ^ "Treno deragliato a Lodi, in che stato di salute è l'alta velocità in Italia?". Open (in Italian). 2020-02-07. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  24. ^ "17 'lightly injured' after train crash in Italy". 10 December 2023.