Greece restarts suspended train services after deadly crash

22/3/2023 19:40

        Greece reopened some train routes on Wednesday, three weeks after a deadly train crash forced authorities to suspend all rail service across the country over safety concerns.
        
        All passenger and freight services have been halted since a passenger and a cargo train carrying more than 350 people collided head-on on Feb. 28 on the same track near the city of Larissa, killing 57.
        
        The rail disaster on the Athens-Thessaloniki route, Greece's deadliest on record, has sparked mass protests over safety shortcomings at an ailing network, the legacy of a decade-long financial crisis which ended in 2018.
        
        The government has acknowledged delays in installing safety modern systems across the network and ordered a judicial inquiry, but has blamed the crash mainly on human error. Railway unions say the government repeatedly ignored their calls to improve safety systems.
        
        Police have detained four railway workers, including the station master on duty after the magistrates' office charged them with disrupting public transport leading to deaths.