Italian news reports said the train was headed with American military equipment from Vicenza to the U.S. base of Camp Darby, near Pisa, and that it turned back after coming across protesters in the small town of Monselice, 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of Padua.
A police official in Padua said on condition of anonymity that about 120 protesters had gathered in Monselice and that authorities decided not to try to get the train through the station.
Another police official said the train had gone back and was trying to reach Camp Darby by another route.
Neither official would discuss the contents of the train.
Spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas Collins of the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force said some protesters had earlier turned up at rail lines in another town, but he had no information about the later incident.
Italy is home to a strong anti-war protest movement, and about 1 million people turned out last Saturday for a peace rally in Rome.
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