Tempi: Rail Accident Agency Report to be Unveiled on Feb. 27

Αrecently formed state agency created only a month before the February 2023 Tempi rail disaster will reportedly release a report on the deadly two-train collision on Feb. 27 – a day before the grim two-year anniversary of the incident.

The president of the agency, officially called the wordy “national organization for the investigation of air and rail accidents and transport security”, Christos Papadimitriou, told an Athens broadcaster on Saturday that although a European Directive foresaw the creation of just such an entity – as far back as 2014 – for every member-state, it was not established in Greece until one month before the disaster – which claimed the lives of 57 people.

The agency was founded in January 2023 by combining the two independent entities tasked with investigating air and rail accidents, although actually staffing the organization proved to be another hurdle.

As a result, Papadimitriou said civil defense and fire brigade inspectors without necessary training and know-how first assumed the investigation of the Tempi disaster, which occurred just before midnight on the evening of Feb. 28, 2023.

The agency was finally staffed in September 2023, but still without even one expert for rail accidents. After his letters to superiors, the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) sent two high-ranking officials to Greece to train inspectors in rail accident investigations.

“The inconceivable Tempi tragedy was created over many years by a series of criminal errors and omissions. In our report, we will highlight these errors and omissions, working with absolute independence. From the moment I took over, the only interaction (with the government) I had was with a minister who asked whether he could help more.”

Referring to the actual investigation and its forthcoming results, Papadimitriou said expert opinions have been sought from Sweden and the universities of Pisa and Ghent, as well as a German institute regarding various issues related to the accident, ranging from fire resistance of the seats to the causes of a fireball, and whether or not it’s the result of ignited silicone oils that were located in the trains’ machinery.

“Unfortunately, valuable time was lost, and it (the immediate aftermath of the collision) was not managed in the time it should have been,” he said, before turning to state-run Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) that manages the rail network and infrastructure in the country.
“OSE had a a staff of 3,200 people, but after the (bailout) memoranda (2010-2018) fell to 590 people; it had more than 500 stationmasters, but during the Tempi period it had 117. We’re talking about heroes, railway employees are heroes, they also have to work 29 days in a row without a day off, in complete violation of labor laws – there was not enough staff,” he said.

Turning to another issue that has also bedeviled safety on Greece’s paltry – by European standards – rail system, Papadimitriou said specific contracts for installing and maintaining monitoring systems “should have been completed many years before Tempi.”