Rail transport by country

Next week will likely see the conclusion of the sale of railway service operator Trainose, while the contract for the sale of 67 percent of Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) has been put off until September.

The union representing workers at railway operator Trainose has announced a three-day strike starting Tuesday, which means that there will be no intercity train services and Proastiakos suburban railway services in Greece until Friday.

The strike also means there will be no connection between the metro and the suburban railway to Athens International Airport.

Just a couple of days after the signing of the concession of railway service operator Trainose to its Italian peer, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, the government is speaking about the creation of a new state railway company through Gaiaose, the railway properties company supervised by the Transport Ministry.

As low temperatures and snowfall continued to create problems across the country, Transport Minister Christos Spirtzis on Thursday ordered an investigation into why hundreds of passengers remained trapped on trains in northern Greece on Wednesday in the freezing weather.

There will be no metro, ISAP electric railway or tram services in Athens from noon to 4 p.m. on Wednesday due to a work stoppage by employees who are protesting the induction of public transport companies into a fund of state assets slated for privatization and have vowed to continue their action.

There will be no Proastiakos suburban railway or intercity train services from Orthodox Easter Saturday until Monday morning two days later due to a strike by staff who are protesting plans to privatize railway service operator Trainose.

The strike will start at 6 p.m. on Saturday and is due to end 40 hours later, at 10 a.m. on Monday.

The price of the single fare on Athens public transport will rise from 1.20 euros to 1.40 euros as of February 1, while the discount fare will remain at 0.60 euros, the Athens public transport organisation OASA announced on Wednesday.

The price hike is the result of an increase in VAT.

The Amtrak passenger train that crashed in Philadelphia, killing at least seven people, was hurtling at  170 kph before it ran off the rails along a sharp curve where the speed limit drops to just 50 80 kph, federal investigators said om May 13.

The derailed train in Philadelphia was going twice as fast as was allowed. It caused the death of seven people and injured more than 200.

Even though the exact details of the accident remain unknown, specialists from the NTSB believe that the accident could have been averted if the train had an advanced speed limiting system (“positive train control”).

An Amtrak passenger train containing more than 200 people was derailed last night in northern Philadelphia, killing five and wounding more than 50 others.

Authorities state that they do not know what caused the derailment near Port Richmond along the Delaware River.