Human error and major systemic failures cited in report into Greek rail disaster

A long-awaited report on the investigation into Greece’s deadliest train crash has blamed human error, outdated infrastructure and major systemic failures for the head-on collision that killed 57 people two years ago.

The 178-page report was released on the eve of a general strike and mass protests planned for the second anniversary of the crash on February 28 2023, fuelled by public anger over the slow pace of a separate judicial inquiry.

The independent investigative committee found that a routing mistake by a station master sent a passenger train onto the same track as an oncoming freight train.

The collision, which killed 46 passengers and 11 staff including both train drivers, occurred near Tempe, 235 miles north of Athens.

Investigators also highlighted poor training, staff shortages and a deteriorating railway system that lacked automated safety controls, noting a chronic lack of public investment during the 2010-18 financial crisis.

The findings were published by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority.

Authority director Christos Papadimitriou told the Associated Press that many safety improvements remain unfinished.

“An accident doesn’t occur by chance,” he said. “There are accumulating factors that contribute to the accident, because humans also tend to make mistakes.”

He added: “The Greek railway system didn’t have in 2023 — it doesn’t have today, too — the safety systems needed so that if one or two persons together make a mistake, such was the case in Tempe with the train driver and the station master, there would be mechanisms that won’t allow this accident to happen.”

The government said that it would respond to the “very serious shortcomings and understaffing and underfunding”, but added that claims made by opposition parties that it had hindered the investigation had been shown to be false.

“A cover-up is a very serious allegation and this is not (demonstrated) at any point in these findings,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said.

The government is deploying 5,000 police to patrol Athens on Friday with public demonstrations planned and a general strike expected to halt or disrupt flights, ferries, public services and commercial activity.