A tram derailed in Milan, ending up crashing into a building and causing at least two victims and 39 injuries, some of which were serious: according to the first available information, the accident occurred in Viale Vittorio Veneto – right in the center – around 4.15pm today, 27 February, with the vehicle of line 9 coming from Piazza della Repubblica and heading towards Piazza Oberdan, with the Porta Genova terminus.
According to what was reported by Corriere della Serabefore leaving the tracks the tram had arrived at the intersection with via Lazzaretto, where there is an interchange that also allows a deviation to the left: the means of transport should have continued straight and instead it would have taken the curve “at high speed”, ending up colliding with a building, knocking down a traffic light and smashing the windows of a restaurant, as confirmed by some present. Passengers on board described the accident “like an earthquake”, with a strong bang that threw everyone forward.
The death toll, unfortunately, has risen to 2, while among the injured there are some people stuck under the tram: one of them was transported to the Niguarda hospital under code red, 6 injured were registered under code yellow and the rest under code green. Rescue services immediately arrived on the scene, with 6 ambulances and 5 medical vehicles, as well as the Fire Brigade.
At the moment, however, the causes have not yet been confirmed by the authorities: it is not clear whether the problem can be traced back to an anomaly in the tram or the rails, or whether the driver had to make a sudden maneuver to avoid people on the rails.
The tram was one of the new models Tramlink, designed and manufactured by the Swiss Stadler. In particular, the protagonist of the accident is a unit of the 7701 model, which entered service on line 9 only at the end of January. It is a 25.4 meter long tram capable of reaching a maximum speed of 60 km/h (self-limited to 50 km/h). Its main peculiarity consists in being a bidirectional vehicle, that is, capable of proceeding in both directions by reversing the direction of travel thanks to the two driving cabins at the ends of the vehicle.
