Top govt meeting with rail company, operate aims to safely restart services

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday chaired a wide-ranging meeting in Athens with the leadership of state-run Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE), its infrastructure project subsidiary Ergose as well as private train operator Hellenic Train, all in the wake of the deadly Feb. 28 train collision in north-central Greece.

The aim of the meeting, coming as public opinion in Greece struggles to cope with the shock of the rail disaster, was to plan a safe “reboot” of rail services in the country.

According to government sources, participants discussed a timeframe for restarting rail services with additional safety measures and strict adherence to deadlines for – finally – installing electronic signaling, communication and traffic management systems along all in-service tracks.

Inspections of all rail infrastructure, including the oft-vandalized and stolen electrical cables along tracks, as well as more hirings of OSE and Ergose staff were reportedly decided.

In a related development, Parliament’s Institutions and Transparency Committee will convene on March 20 to focus on the rail disaster, following a request by opposition parties.

Ruling New Democracy (ND) party MPs have requested that former transport ministers Michalis Chrysochoidis, Christos Spirtzis, Kostas Karamanlis and the incumbent, Giorgos Gerapetritis, be summoned to testify before committee members. Karamanlis, the cousin of the same-name former prime minister, was the minister at the time of the deadly accident, resigning two days later.