The unprecedented and unimaginable in railway times, the fatal train accident on 28.02 to 01.03. 2023 in the Tempe region suddenly lifted the carpet and revealed with dizzying speed, but also in a deafening way, all the inherent weaknesses and pathologies of the Greek railways, which multiplied and expanded following their division and privatization.
In the news bulletins of the Mass Media, fragmentary information is announced and the causes of this tragic multi-fatal event are analyzed by journalists and TV presenters.
They talk regarding “revelations” and assign individual responsibilities to the Station Commander, make vague general reports regarding the weaknesses of the “political system” with long-winded titles, and, unfortunately, many of them do not forget the role of the tele-judge, even reaching the point of issuing conclusions, without the thorough investigation of the causes and the special conditions required in these cases.
In the space of a few days, Greek society was informed regarding the huge shortage of personnel, who in almost all jobs must be experienced and well trained, it was informed in general regarding the operation of the modern remote control railway signaling systems that must be installed and to be in an operational state on high-speed railway networks, so as to ensure the safety of train traffic and, by extension, of passengers, goods, rolling stock and of course the workers themselves.
The tragic shortages of specialized personnel, the collapse of the signaling and remote control systems, but also the delays in the reduction and installation of modern technological equipment systems on the main railway axis, which render the installed train and line protection systems inactive, were and are known to the politicians representatives of the parties, which ruled the country and are hypocritically now in a consensus regime, accuse each other “crossing their swords” on the television panels.
The Greek railway network gradually, but mainly during the first memorial period, where 1,500 specialized workers “left” in a very short time with law 3891/2010 by voluntary or compulsory transfer, literally “for better or for worse” railways, it was suddenly transformed from a labour-intensive production unit to a capital-intensive production unit, without being accompanied by the necessary component, i.e. the technological capital equipment.
The previous transition from the traditional (manual) traffic management system to a modern management system using signaling equipment in the section of the network between SS Domokou – Plateos during the period 2007-2010 and the return once more to the traditional system, without taking care of staffing with the necessary staff, since the railway workers had been “transferred” to other bodies with the application of the above law, caused over time a number of problems in the management of the network and naturally led to marginal operating conditions of the railway infrastructure .
The stations that were necessary for the smooth and safe movement of trains gradually began to be shut down from that period and those that operated for basic needs were and still are understaffed.
The excessive shortages of skilled personnel in the operation of the railway infrastructure and the excessive delays in the execution of the contracts, as has been complained, created adverse working conditions of prolonged duration which at a certain point were impossible to cope with, by an aging, tired and flexibly employed workforce .
Line interruptions, i.e. traffic interruptions in sections of a line, required for the needs of modern technological equipment, but also similar interruptions required either for the restoration of extraordinary damage to the infrastructure, or for the withdrawal of trains or traction units that confuse, by diverting the traffic on the adjacent line have been carried out since the establishment of the OSE in operating mode with the issuance of scheduled or emergency traffic regulations.
The smaller recorded rail incidents in the last five years on the gradually crumbling and battered rail network, unfortunately, have not been able, despite the warnings, complaints and out-of-court actions of the trade unions, to mobilize the authorities to take similar measures.
The increased requirements in extended periods of time to carry out an increased number of restoration works and the installation of modern technological traffic safety systems caused by the delays in the completion of contracts might have been partially addressed and improved safety indicators with the following independent or conjunctive, indicative moods:
a) By hiring infrastructure personnel of all specialties and especially station masters with increased formal qualifications (HEI/TEI graduates) with stable working relationships (not with <μπλοκάκι>), who will be highly trained and properly prepared for the respective position.
b) By reducing the number of train routes.
c) By defining the maximum number of sections of the network, within which railway infrastructure works are carried out.
However, in the operating model of the divided and privatized railway, from the EU and the memorandums, where competition between companies and the logic of profit dominate, such options did not and do not fit.
In order not to experience a similar accident in the future and not to mourn unjustly other human lives, the eternal responsibilities of the politicians, which led to the tragic and fatal train accident in the area of Tempe, must be fully attributed.
It is now time for the youth and the Greek people to condemn and overthrow the far-right neoliberal political choices that primarily care regarding profits, without considering human lives, to claim with a collective struggle the right to safety at work and in movement and to demand the immediate re-nationalisation of the railway operation.