Three serious questions arise from the apology of the now remanded station master and from the schedule of the shifts of the Larissa station, a document revealed yesterday in the evening news report by SKAI.

According to the shift plan, from 22:00 to 23:00 three station masters should be at the station. This element is important, as at 22:10 the commuter train passed, i.e. the moment the key was changed.

The questions that need answers:

  • How many stationmasters were present from 22:00 to 23:00
  • Which stationmaster did the ‘key’ change when the commuter train passed?
  • Why didn’t anyone return the key for 58 minutes before the Intercity departed?

After the apology of the 59-year-old station master, other involved persons are called by the railway staff, with justice speeding up but also deepening, looking for responsibilities in all directions.

From this document it appears that the shifts are as follows:

  • 06.00 – 15.00
  • 14.00 – 23.00
  • 22.00 – 07.00

The shift schedules “show” that when the two morning students start at 2:00 p.m., the two afternoon students come at 3:00 p.m., which should coincide by one hour with the one evening student who starts his shift at 10:00 p.m. That is, from 22.00 to 23.00 at night they should be there 3 stationmasters on site.

This element is important as on 22.10 the suburban train passed, i.e. the moment the “key” was changed to pass (the suburban train).

What the stationmaster allegedly testified

In his apology, according to information, the 59-year-old station master of Larissa allegedly claimed that: “As the inspector has already mentioned, he had appointed two station masters for that particular day with a shift until 11 p.m. If the investigator asks for a copy of the shift sheet, he will find out the number of station masters and the working hours, which were nine hours.”

“The two station masters who were on the previous shift around 22:15 they left. And I stayed from then alone until 11.04 when the train left. “From a quarter past 11 the network was heaving with traffic and I was on my own to control the whole central section of the railway,” the station master is quoted as saying.

As for the key, which he forgot to turn, he reportedly claimed that he has a “memory lapse”, that he cannot remember exactly what happened.

“I think for sure that I turned the key because it is a mechanical movement that happens automatically. But I have memory space for the key. Due to my workload, unfortunately I don’t remember looking at that particular part of the board again later,” he is reported to have said.

The supervisor’s sick leave

Meanwhile, the urgent investigation into the sick leave taken by the stationmaster’s supervisor the day after the accident is expected to be completed in the next few hours. The investigation was ordered by the Minister of Health, Thanos Pleuris, as he pointed out while speaking to SKAI yesterday.

According to information, in fact, the head of the station master was never examined by the doctor, while the permit that was submitted electronically to the EFKA system is signed by a doctor, a subordinate of the one with whom the employee came into contact, following an order received from his manager – a doctor .

“The investigation will be completed within 24 hours. Permission has been given by a public hospital, that is, by us,” said Mr. Pleuris.