Speaking to Sky and “Atairiastos”, the former Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Christos Spirtzis, expressed the opinion that the responsibilities for the perennial shortages in the railways do not concern the SYRIZA government: “If we have responsibilities, we have never refused to take them. It’s not everyone’s fault. I believe it is not our fault. I believe that the SYRIZA government is not to blame. Neither do I personally,” he said characteristically.

Speaking to Yannis Dsuno and Christos Koutras, Mr. Spirtzis he began his presentation by saying that “all these days people are asking where Spirtzis is. Did someone ask for me and I hid? Do I have reason to hide?

When you see families being torn apart, it is not possible for me to go out the windows and fight with Georgiadis. I respected their memory and that’s why I didn’t go out.

If we have responsibilities, we have never refused to take them.

It’s not everyone’s fault. I believe it is not our fault. I believe that the SYRIZA government is not to blame. Neither do I personally.”

The accident in Tempe would not have happened if it was true in OSE that until 2019 and 2020.

Mr. Spirtzis said, among other things:

-First of all, it is tragic to say that there was a collision on a double railway line. When in Greece has this happened? Until 2018 we had a monastery and there had been no conflict. There had been other accidents, but is it possible for a double to become head-on?

-It was dismantled, the whole system collapsed within 4 years.

-It collapsed because another logic continued in the staffing of the OSE.

-At OSE and Transport, when someone tells you there is a safety problem there, you stop if you cannot ensure the conditions of safe operation.

– That’s how we stopped the TRAM.

-The old remote control system existed in Larissa. What was not done was to improve security. There were stationmasters, locksmiths and a secondary that stopped in 2019 in Karolou.

– In 2020 Karolou was divided into TRAINOSE and Hellenic Train. And let me make a revelation on this: What all the children say that we see when the delivery is coming, that on the trains existed and exists.

-At any time we could see where the train is, across the network.

-There was no remote control, but there is GPS on every train, there is a Vodafone application, when OSE and TRAINOSE were working together, the OSE communicated with the station masters and the others with the train drivers. They didn’t see on which line, but they were charting a course. Now OSE didn’t see it.

– Now OSE in the secondary center, because no one cared in 2020 when TRAINOSE left, they have a terminal. They revised the contract with TRAINOSE for more, and Hellinic saved 600 million, but a terminal no one cared to go to see that it is missing from surveillance.

– In Larissa, which Mr. Gerapetritis mentioned, there was the old remote control system, but this was local.

-In Larissa, there was also a second remote control system that was damaged in 2019 and burned down and no one repaired it.

-Why didn’t anyone make it? 9.5 billion direct assignments made.

-There had to be staff, there had to be maintenance.

– During our days there was an announcement and we brought back staff who had left in 2010. We had 1200 staff and now there are about 700.

– In Larissa there were 25 stationmasters during SYRIZA and now there are 10 and the rest with a pad. During SYRIZA at night there were 2 stationmasters and if there was one, he was experienced, not like now.

– Responsibilities are personalized. That Mr. Mitsotakis send another order to Dogiakos and that all contracts on SYRIZA be checked.

– What else was there to prevent the accident from happening? GSMR, the mobile telephony of trains, was ready. Ready. Delivered. When did it end? It ended in 2018, was transferred to the OSE, training was given to all staff, it was installed and for four years it did not work. Why; The certification had to be done in Iconium-Thriassio, which did not happen for four years.

– In other words, when the driver realized what was happening, instead of using his cell phone to look left and right to find which other driver was on the other train, everyone would hear him: the stationmasters, the nearby trains, the one that was getting off, everyone.”

Because contract 717 has not yet been delivered

Regarding contract 717, Mr. Spirtzis emphasized:

– Which government did we have? Samaras-Venizelos. Who was the transport minister? Chrysochoeidis. Who was the CEO? Mr. Spiliopoulos.

– I won’t tell you what we say, I’ll tell you what the papers say: They say it was a contract where large parts of the project were not included, that had materials that were not produced, everywhere. Missing, lousy, lousy.

– So, there were the following options: Either it wouldn’t happen at all in 2016 and the financing of the project would end, or we would try to make an integrated system through this contract.

– In 2016 we realized that this contract is miserable and we made a supplementary one.

– We went from 6 hours to 4 for Athens-Thessaloniki and if these systems came in we would go to 3.5 hours.

– But with the contract we had, they couldn’t do what they had to.

– We delivered in September 2018 68% of the project.

– The project that Mr. Mitsotakis was going to inaugurate a day after the accident was 95% complete.

– When the EDE took place and the contractors did not sign so as not to have the responsibility, what did we do? We made a special invitation for them to come out at a discount.

– I don’t feel responsible for them. I think about it very honestly. Obviously we would also have pickups, but the trains were safe. Because the TRAM that I saw was not there, I closed it.

– In 2013, Mr. Vinis wrote that 77% of the project had been completed.”