With a very short ceremony and without any questions from journalists, the transfer and receipt of the Ministry of Infrastructure from Costa Ah. Karamanlis To George Herapetritis. Mr. Gerapetritis stressed that he arrived with three instructions from the Prime Minister: to investigate the accident, to continue the smooth modernization of infrastructure and to take measures to restore the safety of railway transport.

Yesterday’s ceremony was held in a tense atmosphere and with extremely short procedures. “Unfortunately, our country is experiencing a national tragedy. And nothing matters in the face of so many human lives being unjustly lost. Unfortunately, it appears that human error has led to this unspeakable tragedy. But everything will be investigated in the most objective way,” Mr. Karamanlis said in his brief statement. “Once again, I want to express my condolences to the families who lost their people. And my warmest wishes to the wounded who are fighting their own battle,” he concluded.

For his part, Giorgos Gerapetritis praised Mr. Karamanlis’s decision to step down and assume political responsibility. “By special order of the Prime Minister, I am taking over the duties of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport for the purpose of three specific things,” he said. “The first is to explore the reasons why we have come to mourn the loss of human souls.” According to him, the investigation will be transparent, and the commission of experts will study the systemic causes that led to the tragedy, “of course, not to lay responsibility, since this is the subject of an already existing judicial investigation.”

As a second goal, Mr. Gerapetritis mentioned the provision of infrastructure modernization procedures, “so that there are no problems with the speed of work.” Finally, “immediate actions are needed to restore transport security at the level of railway transport in order for security to be fixed in the psychology of citizens.”