Fallacious yet widespread and documented beliefs courtesy of Wikipedia.
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini did not “make the trains run on time”. Much of the repair work had been performed before Mussolini and the Fascists came to power in 1922. Accounts from the era also suggest that the Italian railways’ legendary adherence to timetables was more myth than reality. Mussolini's trains were subject to frequent labour disruptions due to his conflict with labour unions.