The railway will be operational again, probably in late March or early April. But until the delayed signaling and telemechanics systems are put in place, the routes will be more sparse, as will fewer stations where trains will stop, which will operate strictly with two stationmasters on all shifts.

As the minister of state in charge of infrastructure and transport said, George Herapetritis during today’s press conference, the opening of the railway will take place with increased safety measures to be determined in the coming days in cooperation with OSE, workers and the train operating company, Hellenic Train (formerly TRAINOSE). Meanwhile, a leadership change is coming at OSE and ERGOSE as the leaders of both organizations have resigned. Relevant announcements are expected in the coming days.“Restarting before the update is complete will only be done in absolute safety. The system may have been operating in manual mode for decades, but there will be an upgraded security system,” Mr. Gerapetritis said, stressing that among other measures to be agreed, there will be the mandatory presence of two station masters on each shift and at each station. which is working.

Fewer stations, fewer trains

This, he says, will also lead to a reduction in the transport project, which “means reducing trains or reducing the stations where the train will stop. We will see this with administrations and workers. There is no doubt that, firstly, without additional safety valves, not a single train will move, and secondly, this will be done with absolute coordination of all departments.”

At the operational level, according to the information, the tracks at the site of the tragic accident have been cleared, and what remains to be done in the coming days to get ready for traffic is to carry out some electrification work.

However, it has not yet been determined which routes and which sections of the railway will operate immediately. To the question “K”, Mr. Gerapetritis noted that “the plan has not yet been implemented, because a discussion with staff and Hellenic Train will follow. We will have an increase in the presence of staff and possibly a reduction in the project. This will be done symmetrically. We don’t want to cut functional and necessary lines.”

Infrastructure Modernization

As for tomorrow’s railroads, efforts will focus on two big issues: infrastructure and human resources. The focus is on the completion of signaling and remote control upgrade projects on the railway network., and mostly work on the now infamous contract 717 ERGOSE. The goal is for the alarm to work across the entire spectrum of the network and for there to be a universal remote control function, which, as Mr Gerapetritis acknowledged, if there was, “in all likelihood, the accident would not have occurred.”

In this context, the minister noted, all necessary actions will be taken in order to act quickly. He added that there had already been communication between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the managing director of the French group Alstom to do everything possible to expedite procedures.

As Mr. Gerapetritis said today, 70% of the contract has been completed, and efforts are being made to complete the remaining 30% within a year. In particular, the contract for signaling and telecontrol provided for 52 posts and three control points. In 2017, 17 stations were commissioned, which is about 32% of the project. But then additional work was deemed necessary, which turned the whole project in half. 15% of 32% had to be redone because the systems couldn’t see each other. The remote control center was not delivered. Today, according to Mr. Gerapetritis, the remote control center and 36 out of 52 stations have been delivered.

However, it is worth noting that, according to the estimates of the railway market participants, after the delivery of the projects it will be necessary to carry out the necessary tests, which means that it will take several more months to put the new systems into normal operation. .

Staff shortages and training

Another issue that needs to be addressed in the medium and long term is the understaffing of the PFE, which during the years of the crisis and memorandums has been depleted of human resources due to redeployment, limited recruitment of new staff and staff retirements.

Today, OSE employs about 720 people, They added 200 people working on the service card (69 locksmiths, 73 station masters and 58 technicians) and launched another 217 sets (117 announced vacancies announced in 2021, of which 36 station masters and another 100 in 2022). There were 11,000 applications for related OSE announcements.

In practice, this means that in the coming months the staff of the infrastructure manager will exceed 1,100 people. At the same time, however, employees of the organization note that at least 1,400 people are required for the smooth operation of the network.

Mr Gerapetritis noted that “there will be recruitment, and the system of recruitment and training will be reviewed”, however, no specific figures are given. In particular, with regard to the training of station masters and locksmiths, he noted that the framework defined by the EU is “rigorous with more than six months of theoretical and practical training, with daily six days of presence and practice in the field” and added that the training also includes medical tests and psychometric tests.

It is worth noting that especially for station managers, among other things, tests are carried out to check the orientation and recognition of the direction of movement of trains or to test the reaction of candidates in stressful conditions, and even counting cars in trains. . In addition to the theoretical training provided by KEK ECO, which also trains and certifies train drivers, practical training is also provided at railway stations.

The Minister of State noted that the training system for stationmasters and locksmiths will be revised, since, among other things, technical skills will have to be strengthened through the operation of new remote control and signaling systems. He also emphasized that all OSE employees, regardless of employment, receive the same training.

In addition, Mr. Gerapetritis announced tougher rules regarding sabotage, theft and damage on the railway network, while he noted that after the restart of the railway, all traffic and transport safety issues will be in the spotlight.