In response to the serious train accident, a new strike has almost paralyzed public life in Greece. Seafarers, bus drivers, doctors and teachers and the entire public sector went on a 24-hour strike on Wednesday. This caused chaos on the road, especially in the major cities of Athens and Thessaloniki. The ferries also remained in the ports, cutting off many islands from the mainland.
The country’s major unions had called for the strike. The state’s privatization policy has been criticized for the serious train accident that killed 57 people last week. The unions are also demanding a full investigation into the accident. A passenger train got onto a track on which an oncoming freight train was going because of an incorrect switch setting.
The investigations into the accident have already revealed numerous serious errors within the state railway company OSE. In addition, all governments of the past two decades had criminally neglected the Greek railway, it was said.
