Greek railroad disaster: How and when will the trains get back on the tracks

With limited itineraries, lower speeds, fewer trains and stops and mandatory two stationmasters per shift at each station, the railway will be restarted after the tragic accident in Tempi. A basic condition for passenger services to start by the end of the month is to find a common ground with the workers, who rightly ask for increased safeguards to get back on the trains.

The decisive meeting of the railways with the Minister of State, who has been responsible for Infrastructure and Transport since a week ago, Mr. Giorgos Gerapetritis, will finally take place this afternoon, although it was originally scheduled for Friday. It will depend on when and under what conditions this transitional phase will begin, even if numbly, as Mr. Gerapetritis characterized it yesterday during the more than two-hour press conference he gave.

The network at the scene of the accident was not damaged, while the electric drive remains to be reconnected, which practically does not hinder the movement since it routes can be serviced by diesel engines. An immediate priority is, according to information, the attempt to reopen the Athens Suburban Railway and the freight trains along the entire axis, which are extremely limited anyway.

The completion of the projects and what happens until then

As the minister explained, the intention of all parties involved is to resume the routes as quickly as possible with the necessary safety conditions, because if the train is out of service for months then it is effectively abolished. He also referred to the risk of vandalism and theft that would devalue the railway if I extended it.

After all, the copper mafia was also 12-13 years ago one of the reasons that the systems that had been installed hit rock bottom and never...