In July 2024, while travelling from Milan to Florence on my first ever day riding a train in Italy, my 7-month old Rimowa Hybrid Check-In L suitcase – purchased in Hong Kong during Christmas 2023 – was stolen on board a Trenitalia Frecciarossa Business cabin train when the train stopped at Bologna Centrale station.
Let me set the context. I had just left friends whom I had spent a couple of days with at Lake Como, and I took a train from Lake Como to Milan to meet another friend who would be joining me on the second half of my trip. A traffic jam and incorrect travel advice from my Lake Como concierge had added an additional two hours to my journey, and I have been on the road for hours prior to me boarding the 13:10 Trenitalia Frecciarossa Business train at Milano Centrale station. I was not feeling my best.
The train at Milano Centrale arrived on schedule, and we boarded Car 3. We were seated at Seats 2A and 2B, right in front of the suitcase rack near the doorway. As can be expected, the suitcase rack was full, and my friend lifted my Rimowa suitcase onto the overhead rack above my seat. People who know me well can testify that I am the sort of paranoid traveller who would willingly contort my body in manner of crouching ghoul in a room corner just so my suitcase is safely and snugly lodged within my seat area, but on that particular day – it might be my exhaustion from the early day and long travel, or the disarming quality of a Business Class cabin – I did not object to the overhead rack arrangement.
For the uninitiated, different train companies in Italy operate different types of trains. The Trenitalia Frecciarossa Business train had a solid overhead rack without any bars for your bicycle lock or similar device to hook through. In comparison, the Italo First Class train cabin I was seated in from Venice to Milan had bars on the overhead rack. In addition, the overhead racks of the Trenitalia Frecciarossa Business train were accessible from the aisle, whereas you sort of needed to walk into the double seat space to reach the overhead rack in a Italo First Class train cabin.
Around an hour into my journey, the train stopped at Bologna Centrale station for a period of 10 minutes. At about 2.20pm, I was jolted wide awake by a commotion onboard. An American family’s suitcase which was placed at the suitcase rack had just been taken by a passenger on the same train. To my horror, I realised that the same passenger had also taken my suitcase from the overhead rack, making it a double theft situation.
If you ever visit Bologna Centrale railway station, you’d understand why the location is perfect for the dastardly deed to be committed. Unlike the open-air platforms of most other train stations, Bologna Centrale was a grim, grey, labyrinthine and deeply underground affair with no phone/data reception, many pillars and dark corners as well as multiple escalators leading to different floors, and my platform was at least four levels below ground level where the police station was located. Unlike in other touristy areas such as Milan, Venice and Rome, the locals did not speak as much English in Bologna, and the language barrier will pose a substantial challenge when a non-Italian speaker needs help.
A Google search after the fact led to me reading on Reddit about a similar suitcase theft onboard a train in Bologna, albeit with a much happier (and probably unrealistic) ending: “A similar incident occurred when my wife and I were on the same route from Venice to bologna. File a police report at Florence station. Ask them to notify Bologna police. After 4 hours of panic (2 suitcases stolen with all clothes and toiletries) we received a call from the Bologna police. They were running a sting and caught the thief ripping open my wife’s suitcase. We traveled via train to Bologna and retrieved all of our items and got a picture with the Bologna police. They were extremely nice and helpful with this matter. It isn’t often that these people are caught but it’s worth a try. A police report will also help with travel insurance claims. This is also a notice for anyone traveling in Italy on trains. Either lock your luggage with a thick metal cable or stand with your hand n it the entire trip. We were constantly looking at our luggage but it only took 10 seconds for someone to hop on our train and take the luggage before we left the station.”
It was one of the most traumatising and stressful days of my life. We grabbed our remaining unstolen luggage and rushed out of the train, but the thief was nowhere to be seen. The Find My functionalities were strangely unresponsive even though there was an Apple laptop and AirTag in the suitcase. When we explained the situation to the train crew, they advised us we had only 10 minutes to do whatever we needed to before the train departs. One of the train crew kindly issued to us a free ticket to Florence (it was literally an authorisation scribbled on a piece of paper) should we choose to remain at Bologna Centrale to file a police report. Unlike me, the American family chose not to alight and file a police report – perhaps the value of their train tickets exceeded the value of their stolen belongings.
I recall almost hyperventilating as I dashed up the seemingly endless series of escalators and ran around the train station in circles, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, frantically searching for train staff to get help and directions to the on-site police station. When I finally spotted a uniformed security guard, he did not stop walking when I tried to get his attention. When I tapped his shoulder, he gesticulated and shouted aggressively at me before storming off.
After an anxiety-laden, Google Translate-heavy time at the police station, I was issued a copy of the police report I had completed. “What happens next? Will the police do anything about the case?” I typed desperately on Google Translate to the female officer. “Nothing,” she replied matter-of-factly. Another local passenger at the police station who overheard the whole thing looked at me and shook her head sympathetically.
Pro tip: Have electronic receipts for everything. You’d be thankful you have those if you ever need to file an insurance claim. Also, never put your laptop into your suitcase whilst travelling in Europe. I managed to get a grand total of USD$38 for my MacBook Pro due to the high depreciation in value for electronics.
And that was that. Despite the presence of CCTV cameras in the train carriage and within the train station, and the fact that the rotten thief took off with two suitcases from different parties, neither the police nor the train staff took any further action. After a very stressful time trying to explain to the station staff about my situation and validate the free ticket, I eventually found myself en route to Florence, speeding away from Bologna, my Rimowa suitcase, personal laptop and many items of value to me that I would not ever be able to replace.
That evening, after having checked into the 25hours Hotel Florence Piazza San Paolino, with unseemly sweat stains on my shirt and nary an article of clothing in my possession save for what I had on my back, I had to make emergency purchases at Zara and H&M (down to essentials such as sleeping attire and underwear) to be able to function for at least the Florence leg of the trip. With stays at the Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel and The ROME Edition coming up, I needed to find clothes that did not make me look like a common tramp, and my itinerary had to be adjusted to provide time for the rebuilding of my travel wardrobe. I posed for several photographs in the immediate days after, but behind my smile lied a certain amount of anxiety and anguish as I awaited the outcome of my insurance claim.
That night, I wrote to the Rimowa customer service team about my tragic loss. “The suitcase has been flagged in our systems. Thus, if anybody presents the suitcase with the serial number for repair at our stores, the suitcase will be retained and you will be contacted”, the team responded. I hope that, in manner of Donald Duck stuffed toy in Chido museum or similar heartwarming situation, my Rimowa Hybrid Check-In L Matte Black is biding its time waiting to someday be reunited with its rightful and loving owner.
I made an important decision in order to survive and enjoy the remainder of my Italy itinerary (Florence, Rome, Venice and Milan): I categorically refused to be a victim. I refused to allow the incident to define what Italy will mean to me. Despite the hideousness of what had happened, I still went on to eat very well indeed and visit some of the best bars in the world, stay at some incredible hotels, suitably replenish my wardrobe with some great finds, receive wonderful acts of warmth and hospitality (the very kind Cristina at Ganar in Venice gave me a discount after hearing about my plight) and even meet the very resplendent Kylie Jenner. Yes, that happened. Ask me in person about it.
Will I return to Italy or Europe in the near future? Let’s just say I would probably need one of those luggage sleeves with my very Asian face printed on it before my next visit….even if I was carrying an American Tourister.
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