Rome metro station Spagna, which
serves the iconic Spanish Steps, was closed when train brakes
let off dense clouds of smoke and the evacuation of the stop was
decided on Tuesday.
"Some passengers told me that when the train went past it was
as if the brakes had caught fire, there was a lot of smoke which
invaded the platforms and at that point they evacuated everybody
and closed the station," a passenger said outside the stop, in
Piazza di Spagna.
"Now there are about a hundred of us in front of the Spagna
stop which has been closed, and they're telling us to go to
Repubblica," near the opera house, the passenger went on.
The intermediate stop, Barberini, has been closed for months
due to escalator repair and maintenance work.
Spagna, Barberini and Repubblica were all hit by escalator
woes in recent years - Repubblica due to Russian soccer fans -
and were closed for many months, before Spagna and Repubblica
recently reopened.
Barberini is still closed.
Another Rome metro station on the same line was closed all
day Monday due to flooding caused by torrential rain.
Two other stations were closed for flooding but then
reopened.
The station that was closed for the day was the Manzoni stop,
on the A line, which recently suffered long closures at three
other stations due to escalator problems.
The two stations closed for flooding but then reopened were
the San Giovanni and Furio Camillo stops, also on the A line.
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