Rome, Italy – Italian police announced they suspect a fire that broke out in railway infrastructure near the northern city of Bologna was deliberately set,
causing widespread disruption to train services on the first full day of the Winter Olympics.
Authorities said the fire damaged a railway switch and severed electrical cables used in train speed monitoring systems,
causing delays of up to two hours for high-speed, medium-distance, and regional trains at one of Italy’s busiest railway hubs.
A police spokesperson stated that initial indications suggest the fire was “believed to be arson,” though no group has yet claimed responsibility.
He added that transport police and counter-terrorism units were deployed to the scene and launched
a comprehensive investigation to determine the circumstances and motives behind the incident.
The fire targeted the railway line linking Bologna and Venice, but its repercussions extended to other lines,
causing traffic jams and disruptions to train traffic between Bologna and Milan,
as well as on the routes leading to the Adriatic coast.
The incident comes at a sensitive time, as Milan is co-hosting
the Winter Olympics with Cortina, which is accessible by rail from Venice.
This has heightened concerns about the potential impact of any acts of sabotage on transportation during the Games.
The incident is reminiscent of what happened in France during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris,
when the TGV high-speed rail network was targeted by a series of sabotage
attacks in the early hours of the opening day,
causing widespread traffic chaos before the start of the event.
The Italian state-owned railway company, Ferrovie dello Stato,
confirmed that train services were continuing despite the disruptions and delays caused by the fire,
adding that maintenance crews were working to repair the damage and restore normal service as quickly as possible.
