Florence fire triggers chaos for Italian travellers

Italian train travelers suffered long delays and the cancellation of more than two dozen high-speed rail services on Monday after a fire hit the infrastructure around Florence. The fire broke out in the early morning in a network control unit and initial indications showed it was likely to be arson, railway network company RFI said in a statement.

The disruption affected rail travel across the country, including all the main cities, in a week when transport unions have already announced strikes for Wednesday and Friday. Trains around Florence were initially halted to allow the authorities to carry out investigations. The service has now restarted, but with average delays of three hours and some 25 high-speed trains have been canceled, the RFI statement added.