The Minister of State expressed his sorrow for what happened in Tempe. Suffering must find catharsis, he said. He apologized in advance for the answers he may not have, I have exhausted every effort to gain insight into the incident and the railroad’s operating context. I am not here to make a political or partisan confrontation, nor offsets, nor shift responsibility. The responsibility that belongs to the government has been taken. I apologize personally, to the government, to the families and to the people, and the apology is sincere and does not attempt to deflect real responsibility.

I will ensure that the investigations proceed promptly and formulate a framework of actions to restart the railways with the necessary safety framework. I do not have the authority or inclination to deal with the assignment of responsibilities, it is the responsibility of Justice. An independent committee has undertaken the administrative investigation that will identify the errors, acts and omissions that resulted in the tragic accident. My own position does not hinder, it encourages parliamentary control, there will be a full investigation, I am at the disposal of the parliament, I myself will provoke a debate in the competent committee of the Parliament. To find a common place that will assign responsibilities, but also ensure the safety of transport for the future.

Watch the statements of Giorgos Gerapetritis on government interventions in trains

I was at the scene of the tragedy, I had the misfortune to see the place, to have a personal view of how the administration system works in Larissa, to see the scene of the incident on the spot, I visited the Larissa hospital and met with the people who had the management.

The local remote control center of the Larissa station was operating continuously, and on the fateful night a course should have been drawn on the board, which was not done and by definition would have been prevented. The automatic key change did not take place and there should have been monitoring on the electronic panel after the train left and for 5.5 km the fatality would have been avoided because it would have shown the train moving onto the wrong track. There was no reaction from the train itself. I am not saying all this to highlight human error. There were misdemeanors. Regardless, if we had a system the accident would not have happened. There is beyond human error and the issue of completing the required works that would have prevented the incident.

A huge effort was made in Larissa, by the regional governor, the health workers, the EKAB staff, there was a mobilization based on the mass disaster protocol. Thanks to the police, fire department, victim identification team, who informed the relatives in a humane way. I hear about the issue beyond the infrastructure issue, there are two issues: the electronic upgrade and the personnel issue. More specialized staff is always required, an effort was made to strengthen, in the last 15 years there has been a significant reduction due to memoranda as well as a massive wave of retirements. A very small number of staff replacements took place in previous years. The present government made an effort on three levels. For 2021, a competition was held for 117 recruitments, of which 36 were station masters and another 100 in 2022, while recruitments were also made with a service card. The railway was subject to chronic degradation that had to do with both the maintenance and the upgrading of the electronic infrastructure. For 50 years it operated with manual safety systems. In 2014, the upgrade contract and the universal operation of the remote control was signed. The contract started at the end of 2014 was partially developed by 2017, about 32% of the contract deliverable was delivered, but with significant errors, only 18% was operational. In 2017, the implementation of the contract was stopped as very serious errors occurred, the competent financial control authority found the errors and the implementation of the contract was interrupted. From 2017 to 2019 there is no delivery. Since November 2019 there has been an attempt to withdraw the contract, there are serious problems of a bureaucratic nature, in the end we have the signature of the supplementary contract in 2021 with the result that this contract will restart, approximately 70% of this contract has been delivered, our estimate is that the rest of the project will be delivered within the year.

Immediately:

Two issues are raised: the completion of the upgrade contract, everything will be done to proceed quickly. The prime minister contacted the contractor, Alstom’s parent company, gave a clear order to speed up the work. There was a full understanding from the French company, we will report a completion time soon. I promise there will be no delay.

The second issue concerns the restart of the railways. I mean it’s important that he can start over. We should support public confidence in the railway, it is a popular, economic means. The restart will only be done under conditions of absolute safety. Two stationmasters everywhere, even this means fewer routes and coordination for greater safety. They have been agreed by Hellenic Train in the basic safety framework.

The government’s position is that there will be further support for railway finances. Out of 45 million, an amount of 75 million has been entered in the budget for upgrading projects.

-Upgrading the training received by the station masters based on the European program which includes theoretical training of approximately 6.5 months and training in the field, as well as medical-psychometric examinations.

– A stricter framework for damage, theft and sabotage in the railway network will be voted on in parliament. It concerns the theft of copper and other consumables. The framework will be tightened.

– In the long term there is already a plan in the works for the security approach.

Mr. Gerapetritis also made it known that the prime minister contacted the German chancellor and it was agreed that a group of German experts would come to Greece and, due to their great experience, they would make proposals for upgrading security.

-I understand both the anger and the reactions, the investigation will go to the end.

Answering questions, Mr. Gerapetritis said that the expert committee does not investigate criminal components and its conclusion will be given to the Justice. Its conclusion will be given immediately. Criminal investigation, administrative investigation and the investigation by RAS. The existing framework exists for the criminal responsibilities of political figures.

– Regarding the complaints that security systems were removed from 8 stations, Mr. Gerapetritis said that contracts for the technological modernization, which have different levels, are running poorly. Signaling of the whole network, the second to have a system so that the train can see the line, the station office and the control center. This requires a dual installation, on the track and on the train. And there is also the remote control system that will see at all times where the train is. The system limits the human factor. General paging system never existed in the country, we are going to this upgrade. At the Larisa-Platy point, the project has not been completed. I repeat explicitly: The local remote control center of Larisa was operating normally on the fateful night. The local center has had major difficulties over time, however, it has been operating since November 2022. It did not name any issues of non-operation for the specific accident.