Railways to gradually return to service from March 22

The country's railways will gradually return to service on March 22, three weeks after the deadly Tempe disaster, the minister with responsibility for transport announced on Tuesday.

Passenger and freight services on the route linking Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki, the busiest across a 2,500-km rail network, have been halted since the train crash on February 28 which killed 57 people and injured scores.

The railway restart will unfold in five phases, with a five-day gap between each phase, Minister for State Giorgos Gerapetritis said.

"Restarting the railway is necessary to regain public confidence. In addition, a delay in starting operation, even with a limited number of routes, poses serious risks of theft and/or sabotage," he said, noting that there was a "very serious problem in transporting freight to neighboring states."

He said the...