Ministry investigating reports of another near-accident on railway

The Transport Ministry has launched an investigation into reports that another potentially deadly collision between two trains was narrowly averted on Monday, and not thanks to the automated safety systems that should be operating on the national rail network.

Deputy Transport Minister Vassilis Economou confirmed the probe on Wednesday morning, after the incident was reported by the Rizospastis newspaper.

According to that report, an Intercity train carrying some 200 passengers narrowly escaped crashing into a suburban railway train at the Korinos station in Pieria, northern Greece.

The suburban railway train had stopped at Korinos after experiencing engine trouble, standing stationary on the same track being used by the incoming Intercity 57, which had departed from Thessaloniki and was headed to Athens. 

The report alleged that the traffic signals for the incoming Intercity were green and its drivers were not aware of any obstacle ahead until they heard their colleague on the suburban railway train reporting that he was stationary at Korinos over the two-way radio. They called him on his mobile phone to confirm and were able to stop their train before it reached the station, where it would most probably have crashed into the other train, according to the report.

Neither train operator Hellenic Train nor railway operator Hellenic Railways (OSE) appears to have confirmed the incident on Wednesday morning.

The incident at Korinos is the latest in a string of near-disasters on Greece’s railway network, which is already under intense scrutiny for serious safety lapses following the deadly 2023 crash at Tempe in Central Greece.

One of these recent incidents involved another suburban railway train, which was accidentally driven onto the same line as an incoming Athens metro train but managed to back out off the track before the two collide

Kathimerini