Rail Sabotage Disrupts Italian Network as Milan–Cortina Olympics Open
Source: Metro
Executive Summary
Italian State Railways and national media reported multiple deliberate damage incidents on the rail network on Feb. 7, disrupting service in Bologna and near Pesaro as the Winter Olympics opened. One incident involved fire damage to a switch cabinet near Pesaro on the Ancona–Rimini line; another involved deliberate cable damage on the Bologna–Venice link feeding Bologna’s high-speed hub. Authorities treated the events as sabotage, with Transport Minister Matteo Salvini publicly likening them to Olympic-timed rail attacks seen in France ahead of the Paris Games.
Analysis
The operational picture is two confirmed nodes of disruption within hours, both impacting high-visibility rail corridors. Near Pesaro, an arson event hit a switch cabin on the Ancona–Rimini line, forcing response by fire services and urgent repair work that restored one of two tracks for partial service. In Bologna, an anomaly on the rail link connecting the Bologna–Venice line to the high-speed station led technicians to find multiple essential cables deliberately damaged, producing delays, cancellations, and temporary service workarounds while repairs were completed and trains could still stop at the above-ground station. Italian State Railways said traffic was gradually recovering, with Bologna service resuming around midday after nonstop restoration work.
Bologna is a critical interchange for high-speed and intercity flows, and the Bologna–Venice axis directly affects access toward venues and transit corridors associated with the Milan–Cortina Games footprint. Both sources frame the incidents as intentional rather than technical failure, and both emphasize investigative involvement by rail police and broader security elements. Metro reports the Bologna disruption included a fire affecting a track switch and cables used in train-speed measurement, with police treating it as “presumably deliberate,” anti-terror police involvement, and no claim of responsibility. Agenzia Nova adds political signaling: Salvini and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport explicitly connect the events to the pre-Olympics rail sabotage in France, positioning the attacks as an attempt to embarrass Italy internationally while projecting confidence that the Games will proceed.
The incident set is still attribution-light. No group is reported as claiming responsibility in the provided text, and the Italian rail operator’s statement focuses on restoration and passenger support rather than motive.
