Feanor

Last night around midnight a train carrying huge gas tanks derailed while passing the station in the town of Viareggio, Tuscany. It seems one of the tank carriages had a structural failure. There was a big fire that destroyed the houses in the surroundings. Right now there are 15 people dead and 30 are missing.

The carriages did not belong to the italian train company but to an international private firm based in Austria and they were registered in the polish rail. Question: in theory the owner of the carriages should certify they are safe to operate on the railroads but, given that everything is "interconnected" now, who is actually responsible for control and safety?

On a side note, the italian train company is investing big money in high speed trains and their new lines to connect major cities as fast as airplanes but the regular network and old trains are falling apart.