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Great Train Robbery
Plague of train raids in Italy
The sleeper service between Milan and Southern Italy has been hit by 29 robberies in 2006 - nearly four times as many as 2005.
Gangs of Eastern European robbers are boarding the train in Rome in the early hours of the morning, overpowering guards and removing valuables and luggage from passengers before slipping off in remote stations. So popular has the Italian job become, it is reported that two rival gangs came to blows on one train over who had first dabs on the loot in the carriage.
The Guardian reports that railway worker unions blame government cutbacks, which mean that few trains now carry police security guards. One guard was stabbed in the face by a gang member, and the unions protest, quite rightly, that it is only a matter of time before a worker or a passenger is seriously injured in the course of a hold-up.
Placing more security guards on trains might be expensive for the railway companies. Alternatives exist, but they could be even more expensive: Better ticket inspections in Rome, more security in the trains, newer carriages and revised timetables which deter hopping on and off in the middle of nowhere.
Passengers on the service seem to have slept through the robberies. According to some reports, "sleeping gas" canisters are slipped into compartments to subdue passengers while the robbery takes place.
Gangs robbing sleeper trains have been a part of Mediterranean folklore for decades. Your correspondent remembers travelling to the south of France in 1990 as a student, and spending a sleepless night following a fellow passenger's claims that gangs of thieves were targeting trains passing through Marseilles with sleeping gas.
To date, I haven't been able to find out what sort of portable sleeping gas canisters can easily be carried on to trains and released into passenger compartments. Does such a thing exist?
