Murazze di Vado train disaster

The Murazze di Vado train disaster was a railway accident which occurred on April 15, 1978, near Murazze di Vado, an area in the town of Vado, part of the Monzuno comune, Bologna. A passenger train was derailed close to a ravine, and seconds later a second train crashed into it.

With 42 killed and 76 injured, it is the fourth highest death toll in the history of the Italian railways, after the Balvano, Fiumarella and Voghera disasters. While the official count of the injured is 76, the actual number of injured is often said to be from 117 to more than 120.^[1]

Derailment and crash

FS Class E636.002, the same class as engine n.282, damaged in the accident

Passenger train "572 bis", pulled by two engines (FS Class E645.016 and FS Class E636.282), was traveling along the Direttissima (Florence–Rome high-speed railway) line between Florence and Bologna when, shortly after noon, it was derailed by a small landslide that fell onto the rails. The railway track passed metres from a ravine along the A1 motorway, but the train fortunately stopped shortly before falling: up to that point, no major injuries had been caused by the accident.

FS Class E645.037, similar to engine n.016, destroyed the accident

The "Rapido 813", nicknamed "Freccia della Laguna", was leaving Bolzano heading to Rome and was running on the opposite track: the train was made up of two FS Class ALe601 units, 051 and 067, along with FS Class Le480.010 and FS Class Le601.024 coaches.^[2] The Freccia della Laguna was on a rapid service, thus traveling at medium-high speed, when it hit the derailed train, still balanced on the side of the ravine.^[3]

The crash forced the four cars of Rapido 813 into the gorge: the two engines from 572 bis were lifted from their bogies, the bodies being crushed, falling to one side and coming to rest one above the other, with E645 on top.

Among the passengers were the Verona soccer team who at the time were in the restaurant car, one of the less damaged cars, and so escaped the disaster unscathed.

First response coordination

The Murazze di Vado disaster was the first large scale rescue operation managed by CePIS,^{[clarification needed]} a public organization founded after the 1974 Italicus Express bombing to provide better first aid in emergencies and improve coordination of local response services on a regional scale.

CePIS was instrumental in creating the first unified emergency number in Italy, setting up the first centralized regional emergency management center, and joining the many hospitals and private ambulance crews under a single directorate.^[1]

The coordination of the rescue services was widely praised for their efficiency in the Murazze di Vado disaster. Coordination between police forces, crews and rescue vehicles allowed for speedy evacuation of the injured to Bologna's Ospedale Maggiore, unprecedented in the country and replicated a few years later in the Bologna Massacre of 1980.

CePIS later became the instigator of Italy's 118 unified emergency number created in the wake of 1990 FIFA World Cup, phased out in 2011 in favor of the 112 European unified number.

Aftermath

E645.016 was demolished after the disaster, along with the full ALe601-Le480 trainset. E636.282 was rebuilt and put back into service.^[4] After the disaster the train was renamed the Marco Polo.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "La Storia". 118 Emilia Romagna. http://www.118er.it/internet/118bo/118_lastoria.pdf. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
2. ^ "Statistica - ALe 601 e rimorchi". Le Ferrovie. http://www.leferrovie.it/leferrovie/schede/elettrico/ale/ale601/situazione/. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
3. ^ Interrail.it. "Il Lato Oscuro: Murazze di Vado". http://www.interrail.it/latooscuro/vado.html. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
4. ^ Interrail.it. "Il Lato Oscuro: Murazze di Vado". http://www.interrail.it/latooscuro/vado.html. Retrieved 18 July 2011.