Bad weather

Landslide in Molise, Italia divided in two. First funds in the Cdm on Thursday

Sections of the A14 motorway and the Bari-Pescara railway line remain closed

by Valeriano Musiu

8 April 2026

Una spaccatura sull'asfalto in un tratto dell'A14 a causa del riattivarsi della frana di Petacciato, in Molise, 7 aprile 2026. ANSA ANSA

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Some sections of the A14 reopened
Disruptions also on the railway line
The landslide reactivated by bad weather

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The sections of the A14 motorway between Vasto sud and Termoli in the direction of Bari, and between Poggio Imperiale and Vasto sud in the direction of Pescara, remain closed after the landslide that occurred on Tuesday, 7 April in Petacciato, Molise, and caused severe transport disruption.

Some sections of the A14 reopened

The SS16 Adriatica, in the section affected by the landslide, is also not passable. On the A14, however, on the morning of Wednesday 8 April, Autostrade per l'Italia suspended the ban on heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes on the section between Val di Sangro and Vasto Sud in the direction of Bari, which had been in force as a precautionary measure from midnight to 9am.

Meeting with Meloni on the landslide in Molise, technical checks underway

In the meantime, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is constantly monitoring the difficult situation created by the landslide in Molise that has interrupted the A14 motorway, State Road 16 and the Adriatic railway line. The Prime Minister - who last night contacted the president of the Molise Regional Council, Francesco Roberti, by telephone - today held a meeting by videoconference attended by the ministers for Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, and Defence, Guido Crosetto, the head of the Civil Protection Department, Fabio Ciciliano, and the undersecretary to the Prime Minister, Alfredo Mantovano. The technical inspections on the landslide in Petacciato, necessary to acquire the information and assess the measures to restore the road system, are underway.

In the evening, sources at Palazzo Chigi reported that the government on Thursday will adopt a measure for a first allocation of resources aimed at restoring the railway network, the A14 motorway and State Road 16. The decision, the same sources explained, was reached at a second meeting, following the one held in the morning.

Frana in Molise, le immagini aeree del fronte lungo 4 chilometri

Ciciliano: 'Need to wait for stabilisation before reinstatement'

After a summit in Petacciato's town hall, Ciciliano said that "the landslide seems to be at a standstill at the moment, and there may be a possibility of restoring the rail and motorway roads even in a relatively short time, but only after the certainty of stabilisation". For the head of the Civil Protection Department, 'the restoration will not be an all-or-nothing affair, but may initially take place in a partial form, with restrictions on road and rail traffic'.

Since it is a historical landslide of the intermittent type (that remains stationary and then advances), it needs to be constantly monitored: 'At the moment it appears to be stationary, but we will only know with time and the technical inspections underway,' specified Ciciliano, adding that 'the priority remains safety, with continuous checks on the slope and progressive evaluations before any intervention'.

The working roundtable convened at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport by Minister Matteo Salvini on the problems caused by the bad weather on the Adriatic side also took place. According to a note, the minister gave the go-ahead for the start of work by FS on the Adriatic railway line. The work will begin on Wednesday evening and, according to the Ministry of Transport, will allow the reactivation of circulation as early as Friday.

Disruptions also on the railway line

As far as trains are concerned, the Bari-Pescara railway line has some deformed tracks. Train circulation on the Adriatic line along the section therefore remains suspended between the stations of Vasto-San Salvo and Termoli. At the moment, Trenitalia said, it is not possible to predict when the line will be restored. In Abruzzo, the connection between the stations of Montenero di Bisaccia and Termoli is interrupted but a replacement bus service is operating. Some long-distance trains are also limited.

In particular, 37 Trenitalia High Speed and Intercity trains were directly affected by the traffic stop, with several trains cancelled. Those coming from the north and bound for the south due to the landslide will end their journey in Ancona or Pescara, those coming from the south and bound for the north will generally depart from Pescara or Ancona. Some trains are routed on the alternative route from Foggia to Bologna via Caserta and Rome.

The landslide reactivated by bad weather

The landslide in the territory of Petacciato, in the province of Campobasso, reactivated in the morning of 7 April and has a more than four kilometres long front. 'The area,' reads a note from the Civil Protection, which met yesterday to monitor the situation, 'had been affected in recent days by significant adverse weather events. Last week's bad weather and heavy rain, among other things, caused the collapse of the bridge over the Trigno river on the Adriatica state highway 16. A 53-year-old man who was on the bridge at the time of the collapse is still missing.