After the train collision, railway strike and protests in Greece
Hundreds of people protest outside the Athens headquarters of Hellenic Train on Thursday, March 2.
AFP - LOUISA GOULIAMAKI
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3 mins
Rail traffic was paralyzed by a strike this Thursday, March 2 in Greece where angry demonstrations are increasing two days after the deadly head-on collision between two trains, despite the mea culpa of the government which recognized "chronic" failures in
the
paths of iron.
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“
It is not a mistake, but a crime
”.
The front page of the Editors' Journal this Thursday alone summed up the shock and above all the fury that prevailed in the Greek population two days after
the deadly collision between two trains
, the toll of which now reports 57 dead.
The two trains – one for goods, the other for passengers – indeed traveled several kilometers on the same track linking Athens to Thessaloniki, the two largest Greek cities, before colliding head-on on Tuesday shortly before midnight.
After a first stormy rally the day before, hundreds of people protested this evening in front of the Athens headquarters of Hellenic Train, a company bought in 2017 by the Italian public group Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane as part of the privatization program demanded by Greece's creditors during the economic crisis (2009-2018).
Residents of Larissa, the town near where the disaster occurred, also demonstrated, carrying banners that read: “
Privatization kills
.
Some 2,000 protesters also gathered in Thessaloniki.
The demonstration resulted in the throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails.
“
Calm has now returned
,” nevertheless said a police spokesperson in the evening.
Trains at a standstill
These various rallies were held as the day was marked by a strike by railway workers to denounce “
the lack of respect shown by governments over time towards the Greek railways, which led
” to this disaster. .
No train ran.
The movement was renewed for the day on Friday.
“
Unfortunately, our constant demands for more permanent staff, better training, but above all the adoption of modern safety technologies have all been definitively thrown in the trash
,” the unions lamented.
The president of the OSE train drivers' union, Kostas Genidounias, highlighted the lack of safety on the line where the collision occurred.
“
All signaling is done manually.
It's been since the year 2000 that the systems have not worked
,” he got carried away.
The union representatives of the Hellenic Train railway company sounded the alarm in this regard three weeks ago.
“
We are not going to wait for the accident to happen to see those responsible shed crocodile tears
,” they warned.
Shortcomings in the modernization of the railways
"
The delays in the modernization of the railways have their origin in the chronic pathologies of the Greek public sector, in decades of weakness
", admitted Thursday the spokesman of the government, Yannis Oikonomou.
The new Minister of Transport, Giorgos Gerapetritis, for his part apologized to the families of the victims, while making "
a complete self-criticism of the political system and the State
".
The former minister, Kostas Karamanlis, had resigned the day before.
"
Until 2010, there was some modernization of the signaling of the railway network, but during the financial crisis, the safety systems began to break down
," recalled Panagiotis Terezakis, an adviser to the railways administration. of Greek iron.
"
Upgrading of systems resumed at the time of privatization
," the official said.
As for the 59-year-old station master, prosecuted for "
negligent homicide
" and for causing "
bodily injury
", he risks life in prison if his guilt is established.
The government spokesman assured Thursday that "
the error
" had "
been admitted by the station master himself
" and his lawyer confirmed that he "
recognized what he had done
".
►
To read also: Greece: after the deadly train accident, the station master admits an error
(
With
AFP)
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