Government, SYRIZA cross swords over train systems

The telecommand system of the railway network at Larissa station in northern Greece was the focus, to a large extent, of the confrontation between ruling New Democracy and main opposition SYRIZA in Monday’s marathon session of Parliament’s Institutions and Transparency Committee.

The meeting was held in the wake of the February 28 train disaster and summoned three former ministers of infrastructure and transport – Kostas A. Karamanlis, Christos Spritzis and Michalis Chrysochoidis – as well as the minister of state, responsible for infrastructure and transport issues, Giorgos Gerapetritis.

The central issue of the meeting, which was held at the request of ND’s parliamentary majority, was the implementation of the 717 contract for the automatic operation and signaling of the railway network.

The crux of the confrontation between the two sides was whether or not there was a local telecommand system in place.

Gerapetritis said he was not talking about a universal telecommand system, but about the “local center of Larissa.”

Government officials also stressed after the tragedy in Tempe that the automatic tracking system was tested and worked normally. The government remarks were made against the backdrop of a visit by SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras to Larissa, where he referred to an “abandoned telecommand center,” stressing that it was taken out of service in July 2019 after a fire and was never restored. The government responded that the center Tsipras was referring to was another place and countered that SYRIZA was consciously misleading the debate.

The opposition leftist party, especially its former minister Spirtzis, defended the SYRIZA-ANEL government and, again, pointed to the current government as the only party responsible for the recent tragedy.

The meeting was marked by several interruptions by SYRIZA MPs of speeches by Gerapetritis and Karamanlis, while communist KKE, nationalist Greek Solution and radical leftist MeRA25 reiterated that responsibility lies with all the parties that have been in power.