On This Day in 1957, Codogno Train Crash

Today marks the anniversary of the Codogno rail crash, a tragic event that unfolded on 9 December 1957 near the small northern Italian town of Codogno. On that evening, the Milan–Rome evening express R527, having departed Milano Centrale at 17:45, collided with a truck loaded with bran that had become stuck on a level crossing. The truck was unable to clear the tracks in time, and the train, travelling at approximately 130 km/h, struck it with devastating force.

The collision caused the locomotive to derail, sending one of the carriages careening into a cast‑iron pylon supporting a pedestrian overpass near the station. The violent derailment left wreckage scattered across the tracks, creating a scene of chaos and destruction as passengers struggled to comprehend the sudden disaster. The train itself was left partially overturned, while debris from the truck and carriages littered the area.

Rescue teams arrived swiftly, with firefighters, medical personnel, and railway staff working under difficult conditions to reach survivors. Some of those in the truck died instantly, while many train passengers were injured, some seriously, and were transported to nearby hospitals. By the end of the rescue operations, fifteen people had lost their lives and around thirty others had been injured, making it one of the deadliest railway accidents in post‑war Italy.

The Codogno rail crash left a lasting impression on Italy’s railway history. It highlighted the risks posed by level crossings in the era before widespread modern safety systems and prompted renewed attention to railway safety measures. Today, as the anniversary is observed, the tragedy serves as a solemn reminder of the lives lost and the ongoing importance of vigilance, infrastructure safety, and timely emergency response in preventing similar disasters.