OSE blames stationmasters for close call at suburban rail
A near-collision between two passenger trains near Aghii Anargyri station in northwest Athens on September 13 was the fault of the two stationmasters at the company’s Remote Control Center in Acharnes (SKA), Greek railway operator OSE said in its report on the incident on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a section of the network that has a single train track and no light signals, with one train travelling from Kiato (in Corinthia) to Athens and the other from Athens to the city’s international airport.
According to the report, the first stationmaster got up from her seat to go to the bathroom and her colleague, who replaced her, was not informed about the movement of the trains. The train coming from Kiato was supposed to wait at Aghii Anargyri, however the second stationmaster, who was filling in, gave the order to proceed.
The disaster was avoided because both train drivers heard the announcement on their radios, realized they were on the same track, and stopped the trains.
The report was forwarded to the Railway Regulatory Authority & the Railway Accident Investigation Board.
This incident is the latest in a series of near-disasters on Greece’s railway, with the latest occurring last week when a suburban train almost entered the metro network in the Doukissis Plakentias area.
The Greek railway’s perennial problems following years of neglect, along with the lack of automated systems, wireless network communications and light signals resulted in the county’s deadliest train accident on Feb. 28, 2023, when a passenger train packed with students collided head-on with a freight train just before midnight on a line linking Athens with Greece’s second city Thessaloniki.
