Polello, were you on the Frecciarossa 9748 on Saturday?
«I went up to Venice at 4.48pm after finishing work, in truth I left to join my daughter in Milan for the end of year performance. I wanted to surprise her, but unfortunately I didn’t open the door until 1.30 am with a cry. Luckily she wasn’t with me on that hellish journey.”
What happened?
«The journey seemed to proceed without problems, the arrival in Milan was scheduled for 7.15pm. But at around 7pm the light suddenly went out. The air conditioning stopped working. The train had stopped. We were on the tracks near Brescia. We were thinking of a temporary interruption of electricity and therefore of restarting shortly after.”
As the hours pass, the train doesn’t leave again…
«After the first hour, we became alarmed: the train remained stationary, it was suffocating heat inside. We were in the dark, we made light with our cell phones. We couldn’t go out. There was no air.”
What were the conditions of the passengers?
«The children were exhausted, the elderly too. Even for us adults the situation had become unbearable, we tried to give support to those who were ill but they couldn’t breathe, they suffocated. We were drenched in sweat. And there was no water…»
How was the rescue inside the train?
«The train staff came by with the trolley to ask us if we wanted a glass of tea or Coca-Cola, the water on board had run out. The most absurd thing is that we were 100 meters from the motorway but help wasn’t arriving.”
Did you call the emergency numbers?
«We called for help hundreds of times but to no avail. We asked for the intervention of the police and ambulances for people who had felt ill. They told us “be patient”. I myself called the police. The really worrying thing is that help arrived after 4 hours. This means that the emergency machine, including health emergencies, does not work. A shame”.
At 11pm we move to another train..
«They moved us to a second train after a nightmare of 4 hours. We arrived at Milan Central Station at midnight forty-five. Once we got off they gave us another box: this time with water and taralli.”
Anger and bewilderment among passengers…
«What we experienced was very serious due to the lack of help during the four hours in which we were imprisoned in the dark and heat. All 100 meters from the highway. Why, I wonder, did no one come to rescue the elderly and children who were literally suffocating in that train?
Trenitalia announced that it had immediately activated the rescue intervention, providing assistance to passengers, both on board during the stop and at Milan Central Station.
