“We have a duty as a political system to create a truly strong state, which will ensure the great change that society needs. And not a state which, unfortunately, operates with clientelistic terms and with priorities, which do not help Greece to become a normal European country in terms of infrastructure, opportunities, perspective for the future and especially for the younger generations” said Nikos Androulakis during a meeting with experts in the safety of railway networks that he had at noon.

The president of PASOK-Movement of Change added that the tragic accident in Tempi showed the inability of the state to create safe transport with wheels, which in the rest of Europe are at the forefront, being the most ecological, while pointing out the large investments from European funds and especially the Recovery Fund, which other member states do.

At the same time, he spoke harshly about the staff state, strongly criticizing the government and the prime minister for a centralized model of governance. “It turned out that what the current government calls a staff state, was a group of executives around the Prime Minister, which cannot create the conditions we want for there to be another way of governing, with meritocracy, consistency and a strategic plan for the dealing with all the challenges for the present and the future of the country” stressed Mr. Androulakis.

A network of immediate proposals emerged from the meeting. Specifically:

– Immediate installation of traffic lights on the section of the Larissa-Thessaloniki railway network

– Strengthening and training of human resources with merit-based procedures

– Reorganization of the entire organizational grid of the railways on a new sound basis

– Direct communication and cooperation of OSE and ERGOSE

– Guarding the property of the OSE from sabotage or vandalism

The PASOK-Movement for Change Member of Parliament and parliamentary responsible for the Transport sector, Christos Gokas, the civil engineer and secretary of the PASOK-KINAL Transport sector, Dimitris Sarigiannis, the president of the TEE Central Delegation, civil engineer (Msc Organization and Management of Construction, Infrastructure and Transport Systems) Nikos Milis, the director of the Hellenic Truck Drivers’ Federation Iro Doumani and the president of the FTA Freight Transport Committee, Evripidis Sakellariou.

Summarizing the discussion, the president of PASOK-Movement for Change underlined: “The least that needs to be done is the photo-signaling as soon as possible, which will allow safe movement on the Athens-Thessaloniki network. The second issue is that of the Committees. They create Committees, sub-committees to hide the responsibilities under the carpet. Things are very simple. The Justice must summon all the persons involved with the 2014 Convention, which provided for the installation of the system within two years. Failure to implement this contract is criminal. We also all know very well that the OSE has had much less staff in the last ten years.”