Odyssey of the Frecciarossa Venice-Milan, train blocked for over four hours in Brescia with 330 passengers on board: “We pushed the doors open, people were sick”

The passengers’ odyssey ended late at night Frecciarossa Venice-Milanwhich was stranded for four hours in the Brescia area due to a technical failure which also led to an electricity outage on board.

The train – which was carrying around 330 passengers – left Venice at 5pm yesterday but shortly after 7pm, having passed the Brescia station, it stopped at Casirate d’Adda.

It was very hot in the carriages and many passengers felt very uncomfortable. “We have been in the dark ever since, without air conditioning and the heat is getting worse and worse,” said Giovanna, a doctor who was returning from a conference. “They gave us water and snacks, but we can’t get off the train, nor open the doors to let some air in,” she told the Tgr Lombardia. “We made calls to Trenitalia, the police and ambulances”, wrote another on Whatsapp, “crazy. It’s painful to see elderly people and children at the limit…”.

After more than two hours, at 9.30 pm, Trenitalia prepared a rescue locomotive but the train continued to proceed very slowly until it stopped again. Only at 11pm did another convoy arrive which allowed the passengers to reach Milan around midnight.

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. The firefighters took care of the train evacuation operations and the transfer of people onto the new convoy.

Stuck on the Milan-Venice train for 4 hours: “Children were crying and with the bathrooms closed they were using bottles”

“We couldn’t breathe anymore, the air was stale and the windows were blocked as always happens on high-speed trains. At one point a lady almost fainted on me, so I opened one of the doors, even though the conductor repeated that they all had to remain closed for safety reasons. The other passengers applauded me”: Nicolò C. was sitting on the last carriage of the train and witnessed scenes from a catastrophe film.

“The children were crying, especially after darkness fell, and people were fainting because the temperature exceeded 35°C – he says – The water was rationed, in the sense that they only provided us with a mini 25 centiliter bottle per head. In some cases human dignity was seriously compromised: there were people who were forced to urinate in bottles because the toilets were inaccessible.”

A situation that did nothing but increase the panic: “Someone was kicking the doors, while others called the Polfer and the police, only to be told that no one could intervene until someone was actually ill – he continues – The train conductor continued to repeat that the replacement train was about to leave from Greco, but from there to Casirate d’Adda, where we were stopped, it would only take a few minutes. Instead we stayed there until after midnight, from 7pm.”

Shortly after 11pm the passengers were finally told to prepare to get off the train: “By now everything was completely dark, so from the last carriage we had to make our way to the first in single file, dragging our luggage and making light with torches. of cell phones – continues Nicolò – Then we got off and got back on another train. There was also a self-styled off-duty Trenitalia employee who shouted at some elderly ladies, worried because they would have to reach other parts of Lombardy from Milan: he shouted at them not to complain, because Trenitalia would take them anywhere or pay for their taxi. I doubt it really happened.”