Saying ‘never again,’ yet again

“Never again” is a bold statement. It transcends governments, opposition parties and the wider political system. “Never again” is the sum of an entire mechanism. The station master who turns the key, the civil servants who were transferred to a new service just before they were set to retire, or those who allowed someone with no experience to run a busy station like Larissa.

Over the next few months, those responsible either directly or indirectly for the operation of Greece’s rail network will be cautious. We might even see an automated operation system being launched. Incredible though it seems, those who kept delaying the notorious contract number 717 – signed in 2014 for the reconstruction and upgrade of the railway’s automatic signalling and control systems – may even find themselves being held accountable. But that is about all we can expect. The fundamental problems that led to yet another tragedy will not be remedied.

On Sunday we wrote about other accidents that did not result in new safety measures and did not avert other disasters. We also referred to other alarming situations, like apartment blocks that have gas stations and propane warehouses on their ground, the national highway’s absence of alternative routes or the lack of emergency exits at nightclubs where hundreds of young people congregate.

It is not just about the other disasters that are waiting to happen, though. The reactions to the latest tragedy also bode ill. The problem in this case is that they are identical to other incidents in the past when we also vowed “never again.” It’s just noise without content, committees without purpose, rage without thought.

The government’s response while death toll was still mounting was to set up a three-person committee, which, however, had not been given an operation framework, according to one of its members. As for the main opposition, we saw more of the same from SYRIZA.

It even admonished the National Council for Radio and Television for issuing one of its frequent (and rarely heeded) guidelines, asking broadcasters to show some sensitivity and present the terrible tragedy in a way that does cause “further panic among the public (particularly underage viewers) and further grief among those affected.”

The worst thing, though, is the sheer mess of the response – again. We have sundry “social groups” shouting about “state murders” and then running off to protest against the railway’s private operators. We have SYRIZA making a big issue of the fact that the committee without a purpose included a former chief executive of the public entity that manages the rail network, TrainOSE. It seems that life goes on for all these naysayers. Unfortunately, that is not the case for everyone.