The Executive Director of the European Railway Agency (ERA), Josef Doppelbauer, and the Director of Land Transport of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Transport, Christian Schmidt, are going to Athens today, Wednesday, in order to meet with the competent Greek authorities, regarding technical support for the modernization and improvement of the safety of the Greek railways.

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The visit of the Commission and ERA experts was announced by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, after the telephone conversation she had on the morning of March 6 with the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

For its part, ERA informed that the Greek Railway Safety Regulatory Authority (RAS) requested on 06/03/2023 its assistance in part of the supervisory activities of RAS.

Regarding the investigation of the causes of the accident, ERA points out: “According to the Safety Directive (EU) 2016/798, the obligation to investigate accidents belongs to the Member State (Article 20.1): “Member States shall ensure that an investigation is carried out by the investigating body referred to in Article 22 following any major accident on the Union rail system. The aim of the research is to improve, where possible, railway safety and accident prevention.’

The schedule of the expert meetings in Athens has not been determined, a representative of the Commission clarifies. From the Commission’s side, Elzbieta Lukaniuk, responsible for railway safety issues at the office of the Transport Commissioner, Adina Valean, will also attend the visit to Athens.