ROME (AP) — Italy’s national railway company filed a formal complaint with law enforcement authorities Wednesday, alleging that power outages up and down the peninsula that have caused days of train delays were suspicious.
“It cannot be a coincidence” that the disruptions occurred during peak hours on lines from Rome, Milan and elsewhere, said Ferrovia dello Stato, which operates the Trenitalia system. It did not explicitly mention sabotage, but a statement said: “The type of failures and their frequency raise more than a few questions.”
Luca Ciriani, minister of relations with parliament, acknowledged the inconveniences but said the problems were not chronic and that the recent delays were not exceptional. He pledged the government’s commitment to improving rail service using European Union funds.
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The chaos on Italy’s rail system has become a political headache for Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, with opposition lawmakers accusing him of neglecting his job to pursue other, more prominent ministries.
In demanding that Salvini refer to parliament about the delays, the Five Star Movement on Wednesday noted Salvini’s tweet on Tuesday about his meeting with a visiting Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar.
