In response to the serious train accident that killed at least 57 people, thousands of people in Greece returned to protest yesterday against failures to modernize the rail network. After the demonstrations in the morning in Athens, there were clashes with security forces at night, as in Thessaloniki, during new protests. During the investigation of the accident, the police searched the Larisa railway station.
In Athens, 3,000 people gathered in the city center at night. Some carried a banner that read: “Down with the government of murderers”. Police fired tear gas at a group of protesters who had previously thrown stones at police. The television station ERT showed images of burning garbage cans.
Portal/Alkis Konstantinidis
In the morning, around 5,000 demonstrators held a minute’s silence in front of the parliament in Athens and then proceeded to the headquarters of the Hellenic Train company.
system out of order
Mainly young people participated in the demonstrations. They chanted slogans against politicians who are held responsible for the dilapidated state of Greek railways. After the accident, it was determined that the ETCS (European Train Control System) – the system that stops the train when danger is imminent and therefore also protects against human error – is out of order.
On the night of March 1, a passenger train with about 350 people on board near Larisa entered a line on which a freight train was approaching due to an incorrect adjustment of the switch. Most of the victims were young people, mainly students, who were heading to Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, after a long weekend. The railway official in charge at the Larisa station has already been charged with manslaughter.