Investigation by the judiciary of the circumstances, errors and omissions that led to the tragedy Pace during which 57 of our brethren perished.

Already, more than 30 witnesses they passed through the door of the Larissa Appellate Investigator, testifying to the eternal problems facing the railway network, which, although they were pointed out to the competent authorities, no one took care to solve them.

Among the witnesses including train drivers, inspectors, stationmasters, trade unionists, active OSE employees as well as retirees. As can be seen from their statements, which are at the disposal of “K”, this is a common claim of all that if there had been a remote control system, the accident would never have happened.

Testimony presented today in his report cathimerini.gr were handed over to investigator Larisa from the end of March last year until mid-April 2023. Some of the witnesses, in addition to their reports to the console, also emphasized the indifference of the competent authorities, who, although they were informed about the chaos that reigned on the railways, they seem to have attributed the matter to “Greek calends.”

“We received common promises”

Illustrative is a testimony given at the end of March 2023 by Hellenic Train employee and Union President K.N., who referred to the long-standing problems of the rail network and the efforts made by the participating union to solve them.

“The trade union has always paid attention to safety issues in railway transport. After the completion of infrastructure and electrification work in February 2019 on the Athens-Thessaloniki section, which reduced travel times by increasing speeds on many sections of the network, we saw that the relevant security systems, i.e. light and ETCS. As a union, we have written many letters in recent years about these systems and have had no response other than a public dialogue when the employer came and told us that he would request immediate information from OSE about the work schedule. . Over the past two years, our Association has held three out-of-court hearings on this issue. in TRAINOSE notified the OGE, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Railway Supervision (RAS),” he said.

Near, K.N. also mentioned the remote control system emphasizing that without this, the infrastructure manager could not see at what point and on which line (up or down) the trains were going. “In addition, trains could not cross at stations, and trains could not go in a straight line from stations like N. Poros,” he added.

“If there was a remote control, the accident would not have happened”

On the same wavelength was the testimony of I.N., an employee of Hellenic Train and president of the Panhellenic Federation of Railways, who, among other things, noted that since 2010, problems have been identified throughout the network.

“We received general promises without specific obligations – implementation,” he testified.

Three OFZ pensioners were mentioned in their statements regarding remote management. The reason for X. T., P. P. and F. O., who testified to the investigator in charge of the case, was that if this system existed, the accident would never have occurred.

“If there was a remote control, would we avoid anything? Yes, it would be two more eyes, because the controller, because he sees the entire line from Domoko to Plati, would see the train in real time and would correct the mistake of the station master, ”Kh.-t specifically testified.

“If the console worked, everything would be done according to the drawings, and not mechanically. It will not be a mistake to take the train to the descent. We made a series of presentations to the boards of directors of the companies involved, as well as to the ministry, political parties and all governments in connection with the obsolescence of the railway. Unfortunately, they didn’t hear us,” P.P.

“If there was remote control, we would have avoided this incident. The remote control will correct the stationmaster’s mistake and direct the train to Platy correctly. The remote control sees the course of the train and traffic lights,” F.O.

The same was supported by an employee of the OSE G.Z., who introduced himself to the investigator in early April last year. Touching on the remote control, G. Z. testified that “if the remote control system worked, then absolutely nothing would happen, because the remote control would see the error diagonally and point it out to the station master.”

At the same time, the same witness added that, in his opinion, the previously arrested head of the station, Larisa, should not have entered such a central station alone. “The station chief should not have entered such a central station as Larisa alone out of inexperience. Even the locksmith couldn’t point out the mistake to the station master, because he was on peak 101, who corrected it manually, about 500 meters south of Larisa station.

“If engraving was done, the keys would automatically turn”

In his testimony, an OSE station chief named E.

The witness testified that the stationmaster had to either manually or automatically do the engraving. “If an engraving were done, the keys would turn automatically. And if he had the keys by hand, the engraving wouldn’t have happened. In addition, he did not follow the course of the train, ”he emphasized, adding that if the remote control system existed, then, with confidence, the accident could have been avoided. “The console will see that the key is diagonal, and in any case, will see the entire path of the train and, finding that it is moving downhill, will stop the train.”

Three other chiefs of the OOS stations, D.P., G.T., and A.I., reasoned in exactly the same way, explaining to the investigator that if the telecontrol system existed, then the telecontrol would have seen the key before the train started moving. diagonally and would affect it. respectively.

When asked why, in their opinion, the previously arrested head of the station was assigned to the night shift alone, one of them replied that the night shift was the least loaded.

Another EfE officer referred to the training of the previously arrested Larisa as the head of the station who started his studies in January last year. The reason H.T. testified last April that “in the last nights of January, I taught the detained stationmaster. It seemed that he understood the essence of the work of the head of the station, and what I showed him, he understood. He made regular prints, ads, and generally made a good impression on me.”

As for the remote control, H.T. noted that “the remote control will see the course of the trains. The remote dispatcher is always the more experienced stationmaster, who will immediately intervene and direct the train on the right track. When the console worked, it happened that the console corrected the mistakes of the station master.

Finally, the OSE PS auditor also mentioned the importance of the system under consideration, emphasizing that if it had been there, the accident would certainly not have happened.

“If there had been a remote control system, the accident would certainly have been avoided, because the stationmaster responsible for remote control would have seen that he was entering the descent, since he could see the path from Domoko to Plati, he would have intervened and or did not let the train, or made a small reverse of the train, – he said characteristically.