When will the Greek railway resume operations? Here are the timeframe & safety conditions

The time limit given is until the end of the month, i.e. in about 3 weeks, with the condition that a safety net has been ensured in the operation of the transport medium. After the fatal accident that shocked Greek society, the restart of the transport medium is taking place, as was seen from the press conference, in small steps.

At the same time, the solution of completely stopping the medium until the safety systems are completed was rejected for two main reasons. The first is the fear of theft and damage to the infrastructure of the network and the second is the obsolescence of the railway as a medium.

But how will the network be opened? This is currently unclear as there are many parameters. The most basic one is that of ensuring railway safety for railway workers and passengers. The company that manufactures the systems (Alstom), as informed by Mr. Gerapetritis will speed up the work in order to complete the remaining sections after the Prime Minister, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, communicated with the head of the Group in France.

Essentially, the railway will operate in two phases. The restart concerns both passenger and freight routes. Mandatory in phase A, as the Minister of State mentioned, two stationmasters per station will be included with a simultaneous dilution of the passenger work. Phase B will be the operation with the safety systems completed and in operation.

Current developments

Yesterday Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with European officials from the Commission and the European Railway Organization where a first presentation was made on possible proposals, which will be formulated into concrete proposals, for improving the operation of the railway network, the safety of transport, the upgrading of infrastructure , the adoption of best practices and the best possible utilization of European resources for investments in Greek railways.

Today the only subject of the Council of Ministers will be the railway. There will be an update from Mr. Gerapetritis on the railway accident of February 28, 20f23 and the measures to restore the safety of railway transport.

A meeting of Minister Gerapetritis with POS-MST (Panhellenic Federation of Railways and Fixed Orbit Means) has also been scheduled today, which is a continuation of a first meeting that took place last Monday. The railway workers have clearly stood in favor of the re-operation of a safe, quality and Public Railway. The railway workers are going to submit their proposals to the minister in this direction.

Since December, Hellenic Train had filed a lawsuit against OSE alleging insufficient network maintenance and asking for around 1.4 million euros including VAT. With its lawsuit, Hellenic Train accuses OSE, as reported by ERT, of having violated its obligation to properly maintain the railway infrastructure.