The agreement was signed on Monday in Athens. A little more than two months after the tragic train accident that killed 57 people, Greece has recorded its cooperation in rail matters with the France. The Minister Delegate of Transport Clément Beaune and his counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis have contractualized their commitment to a "transfer of French know-how" in order to "improve the Greek railways". On 28 February, a passenger train and a freight train collided head-on in Tempé, central Greece. The two trains had traveled several kilometers on the same track on the country's main railway line. The stationmaster on duty quickly admitted responsibility. This accident had revealed the "chronic failures" of the Greek railway network, especially in terms of safety systems.
Signed in the presence of Olivier Bancel, number two of SNCF Réseau, and the president of the Greek railways OSE, this agreement follows a visit in April by Giorgos Gerapetritis to Paris to ask for French aid in the field of railways. This contract between the two countries should allow "the regular re-evaluation" of railway operating systems. The aim is to improve "accident prevention", safety "regulation" and "organisation" as well as "organisation of rail traffic control centres".
Two weeks after this tragedy, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked the French railway manufacturer Alstom, responsible a few years ago for the installation of safety systems on the Greek network, to complete the work "as soon as possible".
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