Railways in chaos, they think about finances and forget to invest in antifreeze.

The wave of bad weather had been forecast for several weeks across Europe. But trains ran normally in Germany, France, and Spain. Not in Italy. Here's the real reason.

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train chaos due to snow

Train chaos due to snow

Italy's railway system is in chaos over a few flakes of INFO Furthermore, it is not the result of coincidence. Nor is it an unexpected whim of nature that has unleashed itself against the poor rail travellers. Here are specific responsibilities, and they need to be clarified, also to avoid a future repeat. And the responsibilities lie primarily with the railways and their main shareholder, the Italian government.

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TRAINS DELAYED DUE TO SNOW

The first to be aware of a black hole in the system is Renato Mazzoncini, CEO of Ferrovie, who apologized to "all Italians" for the ordeal on the tracks. And its controlling shareholder, Minister Graziano Delrio, he added with some anger: "Never again." But, apologies aside and a future commitment to prevent such incidents from happening again, the fact remains that the internet crisis was triggered by a poor corporate decision made in recent years: not to provide in a timely and concrete manner to the network arrangement to face the Maltempo and the snowfalls.

Let's look around. The fury of Burian It had already been planned for several weeks throughout Europe, but when it came to the truth, trains ran regularly in Germany, France and Spain. In Italy no. And in particular, chaos has exploded in Lazio, around the vital hub of Rome. Here there are 600 switchers, of which only 150 are equipped with "scandaglie", or with the instruments that prevent the switches from blocking due to the IceBut how come? Railways announces billions of euros of investments every quarter and then forgets to spend them. 100 million euro To fix a critical point in the railway network? Who made this unfortunate decision? And did the government know anything about it?

TO KNOW MORE: More commuters, fewer trains. Is this how we think we're helping those who go to work without a car?

Train disruptions due to snow

Don't tell me that the last heavy snowfalls in Rome occurred at very long intervals: in 1956, 1985, and 2012. That doesn't mean anything. A respectable network must always be equipped for this type of adversity and can't just play the bad weather game.

My feeling is that the company has been distracted lately because it has been busy with other matters. The possible listing on the stock exchange, the union with Anas, renewal of top managementPower and finance. Where investments and long-term horizons are needed first and foremost, on the product, which for Ferrovie translates into good service. rail transport. Even when a simple snowfall arrives.

(Cover image credits: Alexandr Medvedkov / Shutterstock.com)

WHEN A TRAIN IS EQUAL TO CALVARY:

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