“It is important to restart the railway as soon as possible. Until the technology upgrade system is completed, the restart will only take place in a safe environment. In other words, we will significantly increase the level of security.” This proposal summarizes the plan for the work of the Greek Railways after the fatal crash at Tempi, presented yesterday at a press conference by the Minister of State. George Herapetritis.

1) He did not rule out that by the end of the month it could be reopened, with the obligatory presence of two station chiefs at each station, which means that there will be a reduction in the work of transport, i.e. routes or stations through which the train will pass. However, it has not yet been specified which routes will be resumed and which trains (passenger or freight) will be on the way first, while passengers cannot be served. IN related question from “K”, Mr. Gerapetritis replied that “we have not yet completed this project because in the next two days I will have extensive discussions with the workers who will be invited along with Hellenic Train to help with this project. We will have an increase in the presence of staff and, possibly, a reduction in the project.”

2) With regard to recruitment, the competent minister acknowledged the shortage of staff, stating that there had been a significant reduction in staff over the past 15 years. The number of employees of the OSE is about 720 people, while the number of station chiefs is 203 people (133 permanent and 70 with a service ticket, with a need of about 400 people). About 200 people are added to the total number who are employed on a service card to cover urgent needs (69 locksmiths, 73 station foremen, 60 technicians), while recruitment of another 217 people continues (in 2021, 117 vacancies were announced, of which 36 stations ). masters and more than 100 in 2022). Recruitment of candidates is under evaluation and about 11,000 applications have been submitted.

3) Mr. Gerapetritis said that the coming period will bring stricter frameworks to Parliament regarding online sabotage, theft and destruction.

4) Experienced railroad workers report that critical positions and services on the railroad have been downgraded. Mr. Gerapetritis promised to strengthen them. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of returning to the post of head of the train.

5) The establishment of a national agency for the investigation of aviation and railway accidents continues, while the government, in cooperation with the EU delegation, is launching a new railway operation and safety system.

“If we had a complete, universal remote control system in our country, in all likelihood, the accident would not have happened,” admitted Mr. Gerapetritis, stressing that the necessary actions will be taken to quickly implement the infamous contract 717 from ERGOS. He noted that the prime minister had contacted the president and CEO of Alstom, a contracting company in France, to expedite the procedures for completing a specific project. According to him, 70% of the project has been completed at this stage. In particular, the contract for signaling and telecontrol concerns 52 stations and three control points. “In 2017, when the project was stopped, 17 out of 52 stations had a protocol for receiving signaling and telecontrol. At these 17 stations, additional work was carried out, as a result of which the entire project was canceled at half of these stations. That is, about 15% of those 30% -32% that were completed in 2017 were made from scratch, because, unfortunately, the systems did not see each other, ”he said. The remote control center has been delivered today, and 36 out of 52 stations have also been delivered. “By the end of the year, we expect that all stations and centers will be fully staffed,” he said.