Train 9595 was the first southbound service of any day in Italy's high speed railways, scheduled to start from Milan at 5:10 and to arrive in Salerno at 11:27.

For reasons under investigation, on that morning point number 5 (which connects the main line to the passing loop) was unknowingly in diverted position.

Unable to replace them overnight, maintenance workers followed a temporary override procedure, which is allowed to take place in these exceptional circumstances.

As normal part of such procedure, workers reported (according to evidence) that the point had been forcibly put in the straight position and taken offline.

[11] On 13 February, the head of rail transport security agency ANSF stated that faulty cabling in switching equipment supplied by Alstom may have been a factor in the accident.