The Italian rail network is operating slowly this Saturday, the fault of “serious acts of sabotage”. Transport Minister Matteo Salvini expressed concern about the tensions and suggested they were linked to the opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The police are not excluding this possibility either, while they are still investigating three incidents which caused damage on the lines around Bologna, said the Ansa agency. A fire broke out on the Bologna-Venice line, apparently of criminal origin, although no one has claimed responsibility for the acts for the moment.
A precedent in Paris in 2024
“The serious sabotage incidents that occurred this morning near Bologna and Pesaro train stations, causing significant disruption for thousands of travelers, are worrying,” Matteo Salvini said in a statement. He recalled the railway sabotage which paralyzed the French TGV network a few hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in July 2024.
“There are similarities in the action and the timing” with the incidents in Paris, noted the minister’s spokesperson. On the day of the opening ceremony, three high-speed lines were sabotaged in a coordinated manner with incendiary devices, causing numerous delays in arriving in the capital. A year and a half later, French investigators have still not found who committed these acts.
