The horrendous Greek train crash that has already caused a confirmed death toll of 56, which will rise as the search of the wreckage continues, has created a profound political crisis with far-reaching consequences, as evidence of pervasive government negligence is being dramatically exposed.
Today transport workers demonstrated in Thessaloniki. In Athens, police used tear gas on a protest action in front of the railway headquarters. The railway unions went out on a 24-hour strike, before which they issued a statement March 1, stating that they had already warned the government three weeks ago of the dangerous condition of railway safety. The strike stopped all train traffic in the country. The Athens Metro workers also struck in solidarity.
“The disdain all governments through time have shown for Greek Railways resulted in the tragedy at Tempi. Unfortunately, our longstanding demands for hiring permanent personnel, better training and, above all, modern safety technology, always end up in the trash can,” a union statement said. “The next day is a day of reflection and mourning for our unjustly perished colleagues.”
Meanwhile student groups demonstrated outside Hellenic Train headquarters, where protesters and riot police clashed and the latter used tear gas and flashbang grenades.
It was also revealed that the relevant railway unions had sent official letters, by special couriers, to the relevant ministers, including the transport minister, already three weeks ago, which were ignored.
In an interview with the Kathimerini daily, Vassilis Zavogiannis, the person representing the workers of Hellenic Train SA on the board of the company, revealed that the safety mechanism that could have prevented the crash was out of order. He spoke of a system that has been “disarmed.”
