The summit chaired by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, developed new measures: drones, video surveillance enhanced with AI, joint patrols, more extensive fences and strengthened controls
More and more passengers are facing train delays and cancellations due to acts of sabotage that are now frequently targeting railway lines. And this is why the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, convened a National Committee for public order and security yesterday at the Interior Ministry in order to develop countermeasures together with the leaders of the intelligence, police forces and the State Railways Group.
Measures against sabotage
To eradicate sabotage on railway lines, the summit has developed a series of countermeasures which include the use of drones to monitor the most exposed areas, the reinforcement of video surveillance systems also thanks to artificial intelligence, the expansion of fences and greater controls both along the tracks and on trains. And to ensure safety, the deployment of a joint patrol by FS Security and the police is envisaged, as well as the strengthening of the “Safe Stations” program in the largest and busiest railway areas.
The latest episodes
Only on Saturday did Digos start investigations into three episodes of suspected acts of sabotage. In the morning, the operations room of the Italian railway network (RFI) reported an anomaly on the Rome-Naples high-speed line, between Salone and Labico. The technicians, in this case, “found some uncovered tunnels containing the cables that manage railway circulation and the burning of the same”. The Rome-Florence high-speed line was also hit by another arson act. In this regard, yesterday morning the information from Digos on these episodes arrived at the Rome Prosecutor’s Office and it is not excluded that proceedings will be carried out for criminal association with the aim of terrorism and an attack on transport safety. And although these attacks have not been claimed, investigators do not rule out that they are connected to the previous sabotages that occurred in Pesaro and Bologna in conjunction with the first day of the Winter Olympics. It was the passengers who paid the immediate consequences last Saturday: in Milan there were delays of up to 140 minutes and in Bologna of up to 150 minutes.
The sabotages in Bologna and Pesaro
Investigations also began yesterday at the Rome Scientific Police Office on the unexploded incendiary device found on the Bologna railway line, near Castel Maggiore, on 7 February. The most probable lead is that of anarchist origin given that some messages had appeared on blogs claiming responsibility for the acts of sabotage in Bologna and Pesaro. The managing director of FS, Stefano Antonio Donnarumma, spoke about the episode in the Marche city: «The points of the network» and the times chosen for the sabotage «denote an expertise and knowledge of the system to create and cause the greatest possible inconvenience».
The bill presented by FI which provides for imprisonment from 12 to 20 years
The president of the FI senators, Maurizio Gasparri, and senator Pierantonio Zanettin presented a bill «which introduces into the Criminal Code the new case of attack on transport safety with terrorist purposes». The two specified that the law “punishes anyone” who “with the aim of terrorism, carries out acts of violence or sabotage that affect the transport system”. And this case includes «the use of a vehicle as a weapon, the direct attack on infrastructures, means or transport services, the creation of a serious danger to traffic safety. The expected penalty is imprisonment from twelve to twenty years.”
