Shortcomings still haunt national rail network
More than 18 months since the country’s worst train disaster, in Tempe, central Greece, its railways are still haunted by deficiencies in safety systems even on main axes, by unguarded level crossings that can turn into death traps, understaffing, legal disputes and shortages in rolling stock and infrastructure, according to Tuesday’s deliberations of Parliament’s permanent Production and Trade Committee.
Addressing the committee, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Christos Staikouras referred to 18 interventions for the restructuring of the Greek railways amounting to 1.2 billion euros for which funding of €520 million was recently secured from EU funds.
“I am not here to beautify the situation. Nor can I claim that all the problems have been solved,” he stressed.
“The Greek railway – whether we are talking about OSE, ERGOSE, GAIAOSE, Hellenic Train – has well-known ailments, accumulated over decades. Persistence is needed; it cannot be implemented in a day,” he added.
