On the evening of July 6, an Italo train on the high-speed line between Milan and Bologna was struck by lightning near Melegnano. The thunderstorm in Lombardy caused the train set to come to a sudden halt - according to reports, the electronic control system was damaged, making it impossible to continue.
The consequences: The high-speed line was blocked and numerous other high-ranking trains had to be diverted to regional routes. This resulted in delays of 25 to 70 minutes. A special measure was initiated. Passengers were transferred to a replacement train in an "inline" operation, which meant that the line between the south and north was temporarily closed.
Italo responded to the incident in an accommodating manner. Passengers affected will receive a full refund and a voucher equal to the ticket price.
The storm caused further damage: Trees were uprooted throughout Lombardy and local flash floods were triggered. RFI, the railroad's infrastructure company, announced that affected high-speed trains will be rerouted to conventional lines until the disruption has been rectified, resulting in journey times of up to 60 minutes longer.
