Enlarge image
The scene of the accident north of the city of Larisa
Photo: Anadolu Agency / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
A black front page with dozens of burning candles - the Sunday edition of the Greek daily »Kathimerini« manages without words because the circumstances leave you speechless.
After the severe train accident last week, there is increasing outrage in Greece alongside grief.
More and more details are coming to light about the head-on collision of a passenger and freight train that resulted in at least 57 fatalities - revealing failure on a large scale.
The career of the station master alone, who made the crucial mistake and sent the passenger train onto the wrong tracks, raises countless questions.
The man, who is to be questioned again during the course of Sunday, is 59 years old – and only started his training as a station manager last year, although the age limit for training is 42, according to Greek media reports.
Previously he worked as a porter and as a messenger in the Ministry of Culture.
more on the subject
Dozens dead: train station master takes responsibility for train crash in Greece
"Token of respect": Greek transport minister resigns after fatal train accident
Athens and Thessaloniki: Protests in Greek cities after devastating train accident
The man should not have been trained in the first place and was reportedly completely overwhelmed.
He also sat for days without a more experienced colleague at the important post at the Larisa train station.
After sending the train onto the wrong tracks, he is said to have ignored electronic instructions and inquiries from one of the affected train drivers as well as a station master at one of the next stations, reports the »Kathimerini«.
The trains therefore raced towards each other unhindered for minutes before the fatal head-on collision occurred.
The 59-year-old has long been in custody and has been charged with manslaughter and physical injury through negligence, among other things.
But as serious as the man's alleged mistakes weigh, to assume "human error" alone as the reason for the tragedy is probably not enough.
Enlarge image
Prime Minister Mitsotakis promises to work through the failures of the Greek railways
Photo: Bloomberg/Bloomberg/Getty Images
It is undisputed that all governments of the past 20 years have criminally neglected the Greek railways.
That the electronic guidance system and other safety precautions did not work or only partially.
That the railway workers have repeatedly complained bitterly about this and demanded changes - not only from the state railway company OSE, but also from the Ministry of Transport.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologized extensively on social media on Sunday.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis vowed improvement
"As Prime Minister, I owe everyone, but especially the families of the victims, a big apology - both personally and on behalf of all those who have ruled the country for years," wrote Mitsotakis, admitting: "We can, want and may Don't hide behind human error.” The accident would have been virtually impossible if the electronics had worked.
In his post, Mitsotakis vowed to get better and promised repairs to the electronic control system, a special committee on the failings of the past 20 years, and new trains.
For the time being, this does not calm people down: On Sunday morning, hundreds again gathered on the central Athens Syntagma Square in front of the Parliament to protest against the conditions.
kek/dpa