Train protection systems

New Left Party leader Alexis Haritsis visited the Hellenic Train engine room in the Attica suburb of Rentis on Wednesday to discuss railway service conditions with employers amid the ongoing investigation into the Tempe rail crash. 

The collision in February 2023 resulted in the loss of 57 lives and left numerous others injured. 

Almost 800 million euros have been allocated in aid to the Greek railways by the European Union, according to a representative of the European Commission in comments to Kathimerini. 

The first amount for the installation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) was already allocated way back in 2000.

The European Train Control System (ETCS) suffered the same fate as the automatic signaling system, which was not in place at the time of the February 28 railway collision.

Infrastructure manager NRIC has awarded the ERTMS CA Voluyak DZZD consortium of local company AER and CAF Signalling a  contract to modernise signalling and telecoms on the 12 km route from Sofia to Obelya and Voluyak.

Announcing the contract win on August 1, CAF Signalling said this was a strategic project for Bulgaria, as the route includes the capital's main station.

The US authorities confirmed three people died after an incident with a derailed train in the state of Washington. The wounded are over 100. The train crashed onto a busy highway near Seattle.

The signaling system of Turkey’s high-speed train, which links the country’s largest two cities, is not complete, but the train is still safe, Transportation Minister Lütfi Elvan has told Hürriyet.