RFI fined 1.75 million euros for the blackout at Termini station on 2 October 2024

Italian railway network, the FS company that manages the tracks and stations, will have to pay a fine of 1 million and 750 thousand euros for the blackout that paralyzed Rome Termini on 2 October 2024 and caused delays and cancellations throughout Italy. According to the Transport Regulatory Authority, as reported by Repubblica, it was not only a nail planted in the wrong place that caused the failure but also a series of deficiencies in the RFI systems: insufficient or non-functioning alarms, incomplete reserve equipment, an anomaly not identified by the technicians and an internal procedure that remained unapplied. The Authority accuses the company of "serious negligence" in the management of the systems set up to avoid or limit the consequences of the failure.

RFI: "Having taken note of the fine, necessary measures have been promptly implemented"

RFI, which has always maintained that it was an unpredictable event, will be able to appeal to the Piedmont Regional Administrative Court. The company issued a note in which it claims to have taken note "of the Authority's decision" reiterating "that it has promptly implemented all the necessary measures to guarantee the resumption of traffic". Then the press release continues: "The incident is attributable to the work of a company external to the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, engaged in night-time work. The event can be classified exclusively as an infrastructure failure and, as such, was managed through a series of interventions which allowed full operations to be gradually restored, ensuring the progressive return to normality of railway traffic".