Trains blocked on Adriatic railway in Abruzzo, delays of over 6 hours

Blocked trains, delays of over six hours, route changes, cancellations and inconvenience for travellers. These are the consequences of the breakdown that has been affecting the power line of the Adriatic railway in Abruzzo between Giulianova and Pescara since Friday evening. At the moment only one track is running, with delays of up to 20 minutes and possible route restrictions or cancellations.

The alarm was triggered shortly after 8 p.m. yesterday, Friday 1 May, when a fault affected the overhead power supply line near Montesilvano station. The fire brigade, railway police and Rfi personnel were immediately on the scene. Three trains were blocked immediately after the breakdown: the 14:52 Frecciarossa Venezia Santa Lucia-Lecce, the 15:35 Frecciarossa Milano Centrale-Bari Centrale and the 11:45 Intercity Bolzano-Bari Centrale. There were consequences for all trains in transit on the Adriatic line.

'High-speed, Intercity and regional trains may experience a longer journey time of up to 400 minutes and be subject to route restrictions,' it said overnight on Trenitalia's website. Circulation has since resumed, but with significant slowdowns. At the moment, in fact, it is running on a single track between Pescara and Pineto. In the afternoon, only one train, an Intercity, recorded delays of more than an hour, while the others 'may record a longer journey time of up to 20 minutes and suffer route limitations or cancellations'.

Rfi technicians are working to solve the problem and restore the line. Having ruled out sabotage, initial information suggests that the problem with the electric cables was caused by the pantograph of a passing train. The Adriatic railway line in Abruzzo had already been blocked for several hours a month ago due to the violent wave of bad weather that brought Abruzzo to its knees and, on 7 April last, in Molise, due to the reactivation of the Petacciato landslide.