Rail traffic was paralyzed on Thursday March 2 in Greece by a 24-hour strike launched by the Panhellenic Confederation of Railways to denounce the collision between two trains that killed at least 47 people.
In its strike call, the Confederation of all railway workers' unions denounces "
the lack of respect shown by governments over time towards the Greek railways, which led
" to the train disaster which occurred on Tuesday evening .
Claims “thrown in the trash”
Greece has experienced one of the worst rail accidents in recent years in the country during a head-on collision between two trains, which had been traveling on the same track for several kilometers in the Tempe Valley in Thessaly (center).
“
Unfortunately, our constant demands for more permanent staff, better training, but above all the adoption of modern safety technologies, have all been definitively tossed in the trash,”
the unions said in a statement.
The intercity train, which also belongs to the Hellenic Train company responsible for the railway transport sector in Greece, is also at a standstill.
Athens metro employees are also observing a work stoppage on Thursday between 4:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. (Paris time).
In a press release, the Athens Metro Employees' Union (SELMA) explains that it "
has common problems
" with the railway company.
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"
For years, our union has complained of huge shortages of materials, spare parts, a huge lack of staff (...), which forces the staff in place to work grueling hours",
underlines he.
After a split from the Greek railway company OSE, the transport sector renamed Hellenic Train was privatized in 2017 and bought by the Italian public company Ferrovie Di Stato Italiane (FS) under the privatization program demanded by the creditors of the country (ECB, EU, IMF) during the economic crisis (2009-2018).
Hellenic Train currently manages all passenger and freight trains and OSE Company, the rail network infrastructure.