On 17 October 2006 at 9:37am local time (07:37 UTC), one Rome Metro train ploughed into another train as it unloaded passengers at the Vittorio Emanuele underground station in the city centre, killing a 30-year-old Italian woman, named Alessandra Lisi, and injuring about 145 others,[1] of which a dozen were reported to be in life-threatening conditions.
The whole Line A was immediately shut down and the area above the station, the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, was cordoned off by police as rescue workers erected a field hospital, where dozens of people were treated. The injured were gradually transported to various Rome hospitals for further treatment, with the Complesso Ospedaliero San Giovanni - Addolorata, being the nearest, receiving most of them.
Several passengers reported that the driver of the moving train failed to stop at a red signal and that the train had been running strangely at previous stations.[2] On 18 October, a senior driver disclosed that the moving train had previously had braking problems on a test drive.[3] However, at a city council meeting on 19 October, mayor Walter Veltroni reported that the crash investigation revealed that the breaks were fully functional at the time of the crash.[4]
One theory put forward was that the accident was caused by a misunderstanding between the driver and the control centre, which would have authorized the train to proceed to the "next station", meaning a station closed to the public (Manzoni), the last before Vittorio Emanuele station, while the driver would have understood it to mean the next working station, that is, Vittorio Emanuele itself.[4] Specifically, upon reaching the red light prior to the station the driver would have been authorized by the control centre to "Andare a vista" (go by sight). This authorization allows drivers to pass red lights, provided they limit their speed to 15 kilometers per hour and are prepared to stop if needed.[1][3]
The investigation concluded that the moving train was travelling at a speed of 42 kilometers per hour rather than 15. The driver of the moving train was prosecuted for his role in the crash, and in 2016 a Rome court sentenced him to 5 years in prison.[5]
