Fourteen acquittals and two convictions: 6 years and 6 months for the Andria station master Vito Piccarreta7 years for the conductor Nicholas Lorizzo. It is the sentence of Court of Trani at the end of the process for the disaster railway of 12 July 2016. Along the single track section Andria-Corato of the Ferrovie del Nord Barese, managed by Ferrotramviariatwo trains collided head-on causing the death of 23 people and the wounding of 51 others. The accusation, according to which the accident was caused by a human error it’s yes lack of investment in safety, had asked for 15 sentences ranging from 12 to 6 years in prison and one acquittal. The charges were train wreck, manslaughter and multiple culpable injuries, removal and negligent failure to provide precautions against accidents and forgery. The relatives of the victims, present in the courtroom, commented on the sentence speaking of “shame”. “It’s not a fair sentence,” said Anna Aloysi, Maria’s sister who died in the disaster, in tears.
What happened – Il July 12, 2016 two trains found themselves racing against each other, loaded with commutersbetween the stations of Andria e Corato. The Et1016 coming from Corato and the Et1021 coming from Andria traveled on a single alternating track regulated by the phone blockthe most obsolete system which provides that i stationmaster they exchange dispatches to authorize the departure of trains to the next station. So it was that from Andria station it was granted to 10.45 the green light for the departure of the ET1016 from the Corato station and, without waiting for the arrival of this convoy in the Andria station, it was made to leave at ore 11 the ET1021 – on which Lorizzo was located – towards Corato. The high-speed impact between the two convoys was inevitable. “AND unbearable that 23 people died for a savings Of 664 thousand euros. It is also unbearable to hear the defense say that the prosecutor and his advisers live in the metaversobecause there are no dead in the metaverse,” the prosecutor stressed Marcellus Catalanowho had asked for sentences of up to 12 years, during the prosecutor’s replies before the council chambers.
Lack of investment – The sum of 664 thousand euros is that – according to the indictment – that Ferrotramviaria did not invest to secure the section with the creation and use of the axis counter block which would have prevented the tragedy because it would have made that part of the railway network technological and would have avoided a head-on collision. The story of the block counting axles was raised for the first time by ilfattoquotidiano.it, a few days after the tragedy. It was in fact known to any technician in the sector that that technology would already have prevented the clash. Yet, waiting for the doubling of the trackin theory to be completed in October of the year preceding the tragedy but delayed due to bureaucracy, Ferrotramviaria did not move continuing to use the older technologyil phone block which involves sending some sort of telegram to request the possibility of letting a train go. The Apulian line – like another twenty other regional networks interconnected with the national one – it should have been adapted by 2011five years before the clash, the safety standards provided for by European rules implemented by Italy with a legislative decree of 2007, which did not contemplate the telephone block.
The law was there, but it was delayed – But, as certified by the ministerial investigation, it was not correctly applied. To obtain those “security certificates”, in fact, they were needed investments and appropriations. And so it continued like this: the Rfi network – the one where the carriers travel Trenitaliajust to be clear – it has been equipped and equipped with the best technologies which prevent in practice that there is a clash because in case of mistake the train running stops automatically. High safety standards and stringent rules under the watchful eye ofAnsf, the National Railway Safety Agency. While the regional networks continued to follow the rules of theUstifperipheral body of the ministry of transport, which had less stringent meshes. For this reason, Ferrotramviaria could travel relying only on telephone dispatches between station masters as a traffic control system. After the accident, everything was acceleratedso much so that many local railways were forced to travel at most a 50 kilometers per hour pending the adjustments. The line between Andria and Corato reopened definitively last year 3rd April. Today it is equipped with two rails and gods better systems possible security.