Italy's rail network faces more disruption after maintenance worker killed

Rome: Italian rail services were disrupted again early on Friday after a maintenance worker was killed in a train accident, rail track group Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) said.

Five track maintenance workers were killed last year near Turin in a similar nighttime incident and Italian trains had already suffered severe delays on Wednesday due to a technical failure that paralysed Rome's two main stations.

Connections between the northern Italian cities of Bologna and Venice were halted at 4:30 am (0230 GMT) after the worker was hit by a train just north of Bologna, a statement said.

The man worked for a subcontractor, RFI said, adding that it was cooperating with official investigations. RFI is part of Italy's state-owned railway operator Ferrovie dello Stato.

At around 8 am rail traffic was gradually returning to normal levels, RFI said, but high-speed trains had delays of up to 80 minutes and 14 local trains had been cancelled.