Greek trains finally get secure communications system

The railway regulatory authority has given the go-ahead to install the Global System for Mobile Communications-Railway (GSM-R) on trains, enabling drivers to communicate with one another.

In the fatal collision between two trains near the valley of Tempe, in central Greece, the existence of such a system would have allowed the two drivers whose trains were traveling toward each other on the same line to communicate directly and the 57 deaths resulting from the collision would have been avoided.

Stationmasters could use the GSM-R to communicate with one another but not drivers.

The full deployment of the system, especially on the rolling stock, has been delayed by over a decade.