EU promises to modernise Greece’s railways and improve safety

“This morning I discussed with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis about further technical support that the EU can provide to Greece to modernise its railways and improve their safety,” Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet on Monday.

She added that “experts from the Commission and the EU Agency for Railways will travel this week to Athens. Rail safety is paramount.”

This morning I discussed with PM @kmitsotakis further technical support that the EU can provide to Greece to modernise its railways and improve their safety.

Commission and @ERA_railways experts will travel this week to Athens.

Rail safety is paramount.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 6, 2023

At the same time, the prime minister has urged Supreme Court Prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos to give priority to the investigation of cases relating to the tragic rail accident in Tempi and assign them to the highest level of examining magistrate possible, in accordance with his own judgement.

In a letter released on Monday, he also noted that justice’s assessment of criminal liability for systemic errors – including delays in upgrading the infrastructure to install new technologies – should proceed independently from the work of the expert committee set up for this purpose.

He that the conclusions of the committee “will obviously be shared with the prosecuting authorities conducting the investigation and form part of the case file.”

A stationmaster accused of causing Greece’s deadliest train disaster was charged with negligent homicide and jailed pending trial Sunday, while Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologized for any responsibility Greece’s government may bear for the tragedy.

An examining magistrate and a prosecutor agreed that multiple counts of homicide as well as charges of causing bodily harm and endangering transportation safety should be brought against the railway employee.

At least 57 people, many of them in their teens and 20s, were killed when a northbound passenger train and a southbound freight train collided late Tuesday north of the city of Larissa, in central Greece.

The 59-year-old stationmaster allegedly directed the two trains traveling in opposite directions onto the same track. He spent 7 1/2 hours Sunday testifying about the events leading up to the crash before he was charged and ordered held.

“My client testified truthfully, without fearing if doing so would incriminate him,” Stephanos Pantzartzidis, the stationmaster’s lawyer, told reporters. “The decision (to jail him) was expected, given the importance of the case.”

Pantzartzidis implied that others besides his client share the blame, saying that judges should investigate whether more than one stationmaster should have been working in Larissa at the time of the collision.

“For 20 minutes, he was in charge of (train) safety in all central Greece,” the lawyer said of his client.

Greek media have reported that the automated signaling system in the area of the crash was not functioning, making the stationmaster’s mistake possible. Stationmasters along that part of Greece’s main trunk line communicate with each other and with train drivers via two-way radios, and the switches are operated manually.

The prime minister promised a swift investigation of the collision and said the new Greek transportation minister would release a safety improvement plan. Once a new parliament is in place, a commission also will be named to investigate decades of mismanagement of the country’s railway system, Mitsotakis said.

In an initial statement Wednesday, Mitsotakis had said the crash resulted from a “tragic human error.” Opposition parties pounced on the remark, accusing the prime minister of trying to cover up the state’s role and making the inexperienced stationmaster a scapegoat.

“For 20 minutes, he was in charge of (train) safety in all central Greece,” the lawyer said of his client.

Greek media have reported that the automated signaling system in the area of the crash was not functioning, making the stationmaster’s mistake possible. Stationmasters along that part of Greece’s main trunk line communicate with each other and with train drivers via two-way radios, and the switches are operated manually.