Greek rail staff went on strike for a sixth day on Monday to protest over security circumstances following a practice crash final week that killed 57 folks.
The busy rail route that connects the capital Athens with the northern metropolis of Thessaloniki has been suspended pending an investigation into the Feb. 28 catastrophe, when two providers on the identical observe had been concerned in a head-on collision.
Almost all of the victims, lots of them college college students, had been within the fast-speed passenger practice which hit a freight practice.
A rolling strike by rail staff because the crash has introduced passenger and freight rail providers to a standstill throughout the remainder of Greece.
Railway staff’ unions and practice drivers have prolonged their strike till Wednesday, saying that security programs all through the rail community have been poor for years.
The crash has additionally prompted anti-government protests over the previous week throughout the nation, together with one drawing 10,000 folks in central Athens Sunday, demanding higher security requirements on the rail community.
A rail worker on obligation on the time of final week’s crash has been held in custody pending trial.
The man’s lawyer stated on Monday that his consumer had been questioned for greater than seven hours by investigators on Sunday.
If discovered responsible on fees of involuntary manslaughter, the railroad worker faces a sentence of 10 years to life in jail.
The station grasp has admitted to having set a swap incorrectly that led to the head-on collision of an intercity passenger practice with a freight practice close to Larisa final Tuesday evening, his lawyer advised Greek public broadcaster ERT.
Labor unions say the nation’s rail community has been collapsing below cost-cutting and under-investment, a casualty of the debilitating debt disaster which bothered Greece from 2010 to 2018.
Authorities haven’t disputed this, and Sunday Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged a long time of neglect may have contributed to the catastrophe.
Greece bought its state-owned railway operator below its worldwide bailout program in 2017 to Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
Now known as Hellenic Train, the corporate is accountable for passenger and freight, whereas Greek state-controlled OSE is accountable for rail infrastructure.
The European Union will present technical assist to Greece to assist it modernize its railways and enhance security, EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen stated on Twitter after chatting with Mitsotakis on Monday.
“Rail safety is paramount,” she stated. The two mentioned “further technical support that the EU can provide to Greece to modernize its railways and improve their safety,” she wrote.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
