Up until two years ago, the train was my main mode of transportation, but the Tempi tragedy changed everything.” said Anna, echoing the sentiment of many others when asked if they they still choose the train to travel between Athens and Thessaloniki.
Two years after the unspeakable tragedy that claimed 57 lives, nothing remains the same. Our way of traveling has changed, our habits have changed, our lives have changed.
“I don’t take the train,” says Nikos. “I took it once after the accident, and throughout the entire journey, I was consumed by guilt and regret. “Similarly, Ioannis-Raphael adds, “Since the Tempi tragedy, I don’t travel by train anymore because I’m afraid. I have no trust left.”
The lack of trust in a mode of transportation once considered the safest now deters Pano too: “Nothing changed after the tragedy,” he says. “What used to be the most convenient option, the train, has now become something to avoid.”
Most, like Anna, Nikos, Ioannis-Raphaël, and Pano, have stopped using the train after the Tempi tragedy. Others, like Myrto and Miltos, continue to use it, even though they don’t feel safe.
“I don’t feel safe, especially if there’s a delay, an unexplained stop, or when another train passes by. It makes me anxious,” says Miltos, who still chooses the train to travel to Thessaloniki most of the time.
“I still travel by train, but less often and with many second thoughts around my safety,” says Myrto, who studied in Thessaloniki until 2019 and now lives in Athens. “As a student and after moving to Athens, I exclusively used the train. Until the day of the tragedy,” she emphasizes.
For Niki and Maria, both students in Thessaloniki who travel often, taking the train has become a topic of discussion among friends.
“I choose to do it, but there’s always fear that something might happen. On one hand, I do it, but on the other, I feel that it’s wrong. That’s how I feel,” says Niki. On the other hand, Maria has only taken the train once in two years. “I was always on my phone, checking how much longer until we arrive,” she says.
(EUROKINISSI)The fact that trains were out of service for 40 days following the accident, along with the suspension of routes due to damages caused by the Daniel storm, has made it difficult to compare ticket sales before and after the Tempi tragedy.
“Unfortunately, the numbers are not comparable,” says Alexandra Kasimi, External Relations Director at Hellenic Train, in an interview with fyi.news. “However, given the circumstances, we could describe passenger traffic as ‘satisfactory.’ Fridays and weekends see higher traffic, and on long weekends and bank holidays, the occupancy ranges from 87% to 100%.”
“Nevertheless, employees estimate the decrease in passenger numbers is around 35%.”
“During the first few months after the accident, we saw a 35% drop in traffic on the Athens-Thessaloniki route for half of the services,” says Vasilis Zavogiannis, president of the Panhellenic Union of TrainOSE Employees. “By August 2023, it had decreased to 20%, and then, in September, the Daniel storm hit, and we returned to where we were. Today, we are still 35% down compared to before the Tempi tragedy,” he adds.
On the other hand, traffic on the suburban trains in Athens and Thessaloniki decreased slightly at first but quickly recovered, as these lines are regularly used by daily commuters, Zavogiannis notes, emphasizing that “the safety systems are working properly there.”
(EUROKINISSI)“The situation is dangerous and unacceptable. Nothing has changed since the tragedy. Accidents and incidents are avoided purely by chance,” says Panos.
“In the beginning, up until the Daniel storm, they fast-tracked the remote control system. What wasn’t done in 20 years was completed in just a few months,” says Zavogiannis. “Post the Daniel storm, it remains functioning on the Athens-Lianokladi and Larissa-Thessaloniki sections. When the accident happened, the second section wasn’t operational. Had it been, the accident could have been prevented,” he stresses.
This was also the conclusion of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office investigation: “Had Contract 717 been completed, the Tempi railway accident would most certainly have been avoided.”
The reinstallation of the signaling and remote control system was part of the infamous “Contract 717” between Hellenic Railway Infrastructure S.A. (ERGOSE) and the TOMI–Alstom companies, which was signed in September 2014, with a two-year implementation deadline. In addition to remote control, it also included the installation of the European Train Control System (ETCS) on the Athens-Thessaloniki-Promachonas corridor.
The ETCS (automatic braking), which essentially removes human error from the equation, is still not operational anywhere on the network to this day.
(EUROKINISSI)While the country was still trying to recover from the Tempi tragedy, Storm Daniel hit just a few months later and devastated Thessaly. At least 17 people lost their lives, extensive damage was caused to homes and businesses, tens of thousands of animals drowned, and the railway network suffered significant destruction.
On October 30, 2023, in Parliament, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Nikos Tachiaos, said that it would take at least two years (until the end of 2025) to restore the damaged section of the railway line in Thessaly.
A few days earlier, the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) CEO, Panagiotis Terezakis, said that the damage included 180 kilometers of track and the destruction of two signaling centers in Domokos and Larissa, which had just been completed. The Ministry of Transport estimated the cost of restoring the damage would range from 150 to 187 million euros.
“The train from Domokos to Larissa is still running on a single track,” says Mr. Zavojiannis. “How is it that, in the six months between the Tempi incident and Storm Daniel, everything was, but after a year and a half, the adjacent track is still not finished? Clearly, there are delays, and some people benefit from them. Does Greece really want a functioning railway system?” he questions.
(EUROKINISSI)Speaking of delays, we asked him for an example.
“Here’s a serious issue: Kalabaka. We had a train running every day, full of tourists. After Daniel, it stopped. Now, five private buses are parked outside Larissa station, filling up and shuttling people to Kalabaka. And mind you, the Paleofarsalos-Kalabaka line, from what we’ve been told, has only minor damage. Yet, not a single screw has been touched. Do you understand?”
The Ministry of Transport did not respond to our request for a comment on the issues raised in the report.
