Train accident: mea culpa of the government, the station master “admits a mistake”


Police and rescue teams examine the debris of a wagon, two days after a collision between two trains, on March 2, 2023 near Larissa, Greece (AFP/Sakis MITROLIDIS)

Rail traffic was paralyzed by a strike Thursday in Greece where angry demonstrations are increasing two days after the deadly head-on collision between two trains, despite the mea culpa of the government which recognized “chronic” failures in the railways.

“It’s not a mistake but a crime”, wrote the front page of the Journal of editors (left), summing up the shock and above all the fury that prevailed in the population, while the station master confessed in court, after his arrest Wednesday, having made a “mistake”.

The trains indeed traveled several kilometers on the same track linking Athens to Thessaloniki (north), the two largest Greek cities, before colliding head-on Tuesday shortly before midnight, causing the death of at least 57 people, according to the police.

“The dead of Tempé demand answers”, headlined the liberal Kathimerini, alluding to the place, near the town of Larissa (center), where the disaster occurred.

– Stationary trains, demonstrations –

At the same time, the trains did not run on Thursday after a call for a strike by the Confederation bringing together railway unions to denounce “the lack of respect shown by governments over time towards the Greek railways, which led” to this disaster. The movement was renewed for the day on Friday.

Greece: collision of two trains north of Larissa

Greece: collision of two trains north of Larissa (AFP / Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA)

“Unfortunately, our constant demands for more permanent staff, better training but above all the adoption of modern security technologies have all been definitively thrown in the trash,” these organizations lamented.

The president of the OSE train drivers’ union, Kostas Genidounias, highlighted the lack of safety on the line where the collision occurred.

“All (the signaling) is done manually. It’s been since the year 2000 that the systems have not worked,” he got carried away.

The union representatives of the Hellenic Train railway company sounded the alarm in this regard three weeks ago.

Police and rescue teams examine the debris of a wagon, two days after a collision between two trains, on March 2, 2023 near Larissa, Greece

Police and rescue teams examine the debris of a wagon, two days after a collision between two trains, on March 2, 2023 near Larissa, Greece (AFP/Sakis MITROLIDIS)

“We are not going to wait for the accident to happen to see those responsible shed crocodile tears,” they warned.

Konstantinos Hasiotis, an expert, for his part regretted to AFP the delays in installing the PTS (Positive Train Control) electronic safety radar system.

In the evening, after a stormy first rally the day before, hundreds of people protested outside the Athens headquarters of Hellenic Train, a company bought in 2017 by the Italian public group Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane (FS) as part of the program of privatizations demanded by Greece’s creditors during the economic crisis (2009-2018).

Residents of Larissa also demonstrated, carrying banners that read: “Privatization kills”.

On Thursday evening, some 2,000 demonstrators gathered in Thessaloniki. The demonstration gave rise to stone throwing and Molotov cocktails but “calm has now returned”, said a police spokesman.

– “Self-criticism” –

“The delays (in the modernization of the railways) have their origin in the chronic pathologies of the Greek public sector, in decades of weakness”, admitted Thursday the spokesman of the government Yannis Oikonomou.

Police and rescue teams examine the debris of a wagon, two days after a collision between two trains, on March 2, 2023 near Larissa, Greece

Police and rescue teams examine the debris of a wagon, two days after a collision between two trains, on March 2, 2023 near Larissa, Greece (AFP/Sakis MITROLIDIS)

The new Minister of Transport, Giorgos Gerapetritis, for his part apologized to the families of the victims, while making “a complete self-criticism of the political system and the State”. The former minister, Kostas Karamanlis, had resigned the day before.

In the midst of controversy, the media made public a letter from the former head of the European rail traffic system (ERTMS) in Greece, Christos Katsioulis, in which he noted “mismanagement” of the application of “signalling contracts” on certain parts of the network.

“Until 2010, there was some modernization of the signaling of the railway network but, during the financial crisis, the safety systems began to break down,” recalled Panagiotis Terezakis, an adviser to the railways administration. of Greek iron. “Upgrading of systems resumed at the time of privatization,” the official said.

– The “error” of the station master –

As for the 59-year-old station master, prosecuted for “negligent homicide” and for causing “bodily harm”, he risks life in prison if his guilt is established.

He had to explain how a train carrying 342 passengers and ten railway employees had been allowed to use the same track as a freight convoy.

Police and rescue teams examine the debris of a wagon, two days after a collision between two trains, on March 2, 2023 near Larissa, Greece

Police and rescue teams examine the debris of a wagon, two days after a collision between two trains, on March 2, 2023 near Larissa, Greece (AFP/Sakis MITROLIDIS)

The government spokesman assured Thursday that “the error” had “been admitted by the station master himself” and his lawyer confirmed that he “recognized what he had done”.

Media, including the public television channel ERT, however highlighted his lack of experience since, according to their information, he had been appointed to this post only forty days ago after having worked at the Ministry of Education and following three months training for his new functions.

Under the violence of the shock which occurred shortly before midnight (22:00 GMT), on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, the locomotives and the leading wagons were pulverized and the drivers of the two trains killed instantly.

Passengers described scenes of horror and chaos, amid shattered glass and debris as the train overturned.

© 2023 AFP

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