Organised by the Cgil, Cisl and Uil trade unions, the march was convened to mourn the victims and demand better safety in the workplace.
The five workers’ relatives carried photos of their loved-ones who were hit and killed by a passing train on the Milan-Turin line late on Wednesday while working on the track.
“We have no more words,” one banner read.
“These aren’t accidents, they are homicides,” another said.
The two survivors of the accident, the foreman of the team of workers employed by a contractor and the Italian rail company Rete ferroviaria italiana (RFI) employee responsible for the worksite, are currently under investigation.
Investigators are trying to ascertain why work was allowed to begin before there was confirmation that traffic on the line had been halted.
Sources say investigators believe work started even though the RFI employee was denied the all-clear for it to begin in three phone calls with network officials.
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said on Sunday that the disaster stemmed from an “unacceptable” and “dramatic mistake”.
“‘The procedure is there,” Salvini said.
“You can’t go to work on a track if there is no notification that no more vehicles are passing.”
The Lower House Transport and Labour committees meanwhile, are to hear from CEO of RFI, Gianpiero Strisciuglio, in relation to the disaster in a joint session on Tuesday, parliamentary sources said.
The committees will also hear representatives of trades union confederations CGIL, CISL, UIL and UGL and of the unions Usb, Orsa and Fast-Confsal.
ANSA
