Italian rail agency Rete Ferroviaria
Italiana (RFI) on Thursday suspended a contract with Str92, the
company in charge of maintenance work on the rail line
Parco-Prenestino-Roma Termini that allegedly led to a
malfunction in the Rome railway network which paralyzed traffic
and had major national repercussions on the circulation of
trains Wednesday.
Giuseppe Proia, CEO of Str92 which is based in Fontana Liri near
Frosinone, told ANSA on Thursday that the company is trying to
determine "exactly what happened yesterday".
"Before speaking, we want to have a clear picture of what
occurred.
"We have not appointed a lawyer yet and we haven't taken a
decision regarding the suspension of the contract with RFI.
The engineering company on its website lists as clients Rome's
Metro C subway line and highway agency ANAS, among others.
Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini on
Wednesday said the huge train chaos caused by technical issues
in the two Roman stations was due to a mistake made by
technicians working for the private company that allegedly
hammered a nail into a cable.
On Thursday, Salvini, who was slammed by opposition members
including Democratic Party (PD) leader Elly Schlein for putting
the blame of the major malfunction on single workers, said he
deals with "approving legislation and finding money, I don't go
around hammering nails".
"I deal with funding which in 2024 was 3.5 billion (euros) for
maintenance and nine for the rail network.
"Clearly, there was a human error, it is necessary to limit the
possibility of them occurring" he said.
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