Rome Metro A suffers another blow

ROME – The Eternal City’s public transport woes continue with an incident forcing the four-hour closure of Metro A station Anagnina during peak hour Thursday morning. 

 The trouble began at 4 a.m., after a service vehicle with a group of maintenance workers derailed, causing damage to infrastructure.

 From 5.30 a.m. to 9.40 a.m., trains from Battistini ended their run at Subaugusta but returned from Cinecittà. ATAC responded by replacing trains with buses between Anagnina and Subaugusta.

 This comes after three of Rome's central Metro stations – Repubblica, Barberini and Spagna – were closed due to faulty escalators.  

 Repubblica has been closed to the public since Oct. 23 after dozens of people were injured in a major accident that saw the escalator accelerate suddenly.

 Barberini station was shut when an escalator “crumpled up” while it was ascending on March 21.

 Two days later, ATAC closed Spagna Metro station, which has the same type of escalators as Barberini, to carry out “further checks.” 

 With three consecutive stops on the Metro A-line closed, commuters getting on at Termini are forced to stay on until Flaminio. 

 cc