Railway: To the Prosecutor the findings for all incidents

In the hands of Justice since the beginning of the month, the file with the findings of all the railway incidents of the last interval in order to investigate whether for any of them they arise and criminal responsibilities one of the railway operators.

This was pointed out by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras during the briefing of the Production and Trade Committee of the Parliament on the railway.

The relevant file was delivered to the Justice Department on April 1st, while on the 16th of the same month additional material was delivered by the ministry: “From April 1st, 2024, we took our measures. I have made a reference to a criminal investigation of incidents under the jurisdiction of all the entities of the Greek railway. I have submitted all the findings, so that there will be a criminal investigation and possibly a criminal assessment by the competent prosecutorial authority, with the final aim, if any, to assign the arising criminal responsibilities”, said Mr. Staikouras.

He even added that he has not done this without having evidence as, among other things, the issue of level crossings is raised: “There are documents that should be answered”he said.

Analyzing the issue of several incidents in railwaypointed out that others concern issues of responsibility of the OSE, such as for example level crossings and other issues related to rolling stock or human resources and concern the Hellenic Train.

As for the issue of unguarded crossingsMr. Staikouras stated that additional funding of 3 is being sought0 million euros so that in about a year this problem has been dealt with throughout the country with priority in Northern Greece.

According to him, apart from the level crossings there are too many incidents of rolling stock maintenance, but also issues that have been raised by the Railway Regulatory Authority, as well as incidents for which the findings speak to the need to strengthen the responsibility of human capital.

“We found a failure to record train speed by not providing tachograph tapes as they should in several incidents. We found that the findings did not indicate, as was later submitted, the existence of some persons in the position of train drivers. All of this, initially on April 1, 2024 and later with additional material on April 16, 2024, was duly filed.”

It is recalled that the previous period had been requested by Railway Regulatory Authority (RAS), the Accident Investigation Organization (EODASAAM), the OSE and the Hellenic Train, the direct investigation of previous events. At that time, among other things, the necessity of safe traffic at the level crossings was highlighted by the OSE, as well as the necessity of maintenance of the rolling stock by the Hellenic Train.

SYRIZA raised an irreconcilable position for the interim president of the OSE

Responding to the objections of the SYRIZA Infrastructure and Transport department head, Harry Mamoulakis for the new interim president of the OSE, Giannos Grammatidis for which the MP spoke of being incompatible as – as he said – he had been a legal advisor to Hellenic Train and one of the executives who had negotiated the 15-year contract with the Greek State, Mr. Staikouras emphasized that there is no shadow.

After repeating the difficulty of finding executives who want to work in the Greek railway, he said that he spent several hours in order to find the right people: “We checked all incompatibilities and obstacles and requested responsible statements proving that there is no active contract with OSE, ERGOSE, GAIAOSE or Hellenic Train.” He assured that nothing was done “undercover” and the names were announced in an official press release by the ministry on April 19.

Despite the fact that the current managing director of the Organization, Panagiotis Terezakis has been at the helm of the OSE since March 2023, although he was also described as transitional, Mr. Staikouras defended the temporary nature of both positions saying that in the next period of time there will be an announcement through ASEP for a new president and managing director, who are estimated to take up these positions within 4 – 6 months from today: “However, in the meantime, the issues are running and we have put in place a Board of Directors. trying to do the best based on the current situation.”

For huge understaffing of OSEwhich currently operates with 580 people, while it should employ more than 2,000, Mr. Staikouras reiterated that the recruitment of 117 full-time employees of various specialties will be completed within May, while the process of filling 100 additional positions has been approved.

He admitted, however, that the Organization also works with 352 employees that work “with blocks” even in critical specialties, while the contracts of 127 employees for guarding the crossings were expected to be extended until 30.6.2025.

Mr. Staikourashowever, although he answered many questions during the meeting, which lasted more than 3.5 hours, he refrained from answering with specific data regarding the amount of debts of the railway operators to each other, given that in the past he had said that “in the Greek railways everyone owes everyone”, while he did not comment on the possibility of changing the terms of the contract with HT and its possible revision, about which the ND MP asked him , Stratos Simopoulos.

As for the issues railway safetyannounced that a relevant action plan has already been submitted, which will be jointly announced in the near future and in which his comments have been incorporated European Organization Railways (ERA) in its findings after the Tempe tragedy.

The new OSE

Regarding the consolidation of railway operators under its umbrella of new OSEthe minister stated that the plan concerns the creation of a new, unified, modern public body, which will integrate OSE, ERGOSE and GAIAOSE, in the part that concerns the management of rolling stock.

THE new company fully assumes his role, obligations and responsibilities Railway Infrastructure Manager, while he becomes solely responsible for all the studies and projects carried out on the railway network, the management of the rolling stock, as well as the stations and other facilities of his property.

After an international competition, it will hired a company with proven technical and administrative experience in the management and operation of respective bodies, as “Technical Management Consultant” of the New OSE.

THE Technical Management Consultant will contribute with expertise and specialized senior executives, undertaking, on a day-to-day basis, all of its operational tasks Companyas well as the more specific responsibility of operating critical Business Sectors for a period of at least 3 years, adopting and applying the best international practices.

The new company OSE will draw up a modern strategic and operational plan, and enter into a performance contract with the supervising Ministry, through which it will be monitored against agreed performance indicators and measurable targets.

The reorganization of the OSE is financed by the Recovery and Resilience Fund, with 5 million euros, and will be fully implemented by the end of 2025.

The restoration of the network in Thessaly

Regarding the damaged network because of her bad weather “Daniel“, he emphasized that the restoration is carried out with specifications to significantly increase its durability with the total cost of the works amounting to 463 million euros, including VAT and expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

The works that have been launched concern the final restoration with infrastructure and superstructure works of the main axis Athens – Thessaloniki, the vertical axes Larissa – Volos and Paleofarsalou – Kalambakasas well as its line Pelion.

These tasks include signaling and remote control of the main axis, systems that were destroyed last September.

Based on the plan that has been announced, the restoration costs are divided as follows: