The first passenger routes started this morning trainsmore than a month after the tragic accident in Tempe.

The first route, departing from Larissa station and heading to Kalambaka, is traveled by Minister of State and responsible for infrastructure and transport Giorgos Gerapetritis, OSE President and Managing Director Panagiotis Terezakis and Hellenic Train executives.

In his statements to the cameras, Mr. Gerapetritis emphasized that: “Today we have a restart of the passenger train for Northern Greece to Thessaloniki and Kalambaka with a slight delay, as was planned for the day before yesterday. We follow the schedule of almost all trains. What remains is the suburban railway to Kiato, which will be operational at the end of next week, when work is completed, mainly related to the lighting of the tunnels.”

The Minister of State then thanked the employees of OSE, ERGOSE and Hellenic Train.

“We have increased the level of safety so that passengers feel confident and have a level of safety that meets their expectations,” he said.

In addition, he touched on three important issues that arose as a result of the Tempe tragedy:

1. To shed light on the accident problem and highlight liability where it exists. “The investigation is moving fast and the results will be available shortly.”
2. There must be a safe restart of routes.
3. Third, lower the level of railway safety to a more permanent level. “Great efforts are being made to ensure that all signaling and remote control contracts on the main axle are completed immediately so that by the end of September we will have a completely secure network, as required by all international standards.”

At the same time, Mr. Gerapetritis said that at noon he will leave for France, where, at the initiative of the Prime Minister, he will cooperate with French railways and the French Ministry of Transport.

“Our goal is to have a modern railway that will develop and be one of the best in Europe. This is our duty to the victims of the Tempe tragedy. The railway will become a safe means that will serve the society,” concluded Giorgos Gerapetritis.

Recall that the first Hellenic Train route started at 08:28 from the Larissa station in Kalambaka, and the second route is expected to start at 10:28 and will run on the Athens – Thessaloniki route.

Security measures will be tightened until the network is fully operational again with all necessary protocols. Reduced timetables, low speeds/longer travel times, two conductors per station, two drivers and one conductor, and only one train in the tunnels.

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