A freight train carriage derailed in Florence, causing major problems for Italian rail traffic. No one was injured in the accident near the Firenze Castello station on Thursday night. The rail route between Florence and Bologna, which is important for the north-south connections, was interrupted for many hours, both for regional and long-distance traffic.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded at many train stations, for example in Rome and Milan. The Trenitalia railway company reported a total of 36 high-speed trains canceled in the morning, and many other long-distance trains were diverted with long delays.

An intercity train between Milan and the southern Italian city of Salerno stopped at around 2:00 a.m. shortly before Florence because the power went out as a result of the freight train accident. More than 100 passengers waited for hours until mid-morning on the train before it could be pulled into a station. The railway police provided the inmates with drinks and food.

For the time being, it cannot be explained why the wagon of the freight train derailed, said a railway official, according to the Ansa news agency.