Giorgos Gerapetritis

The European Commission will take part in the investigation into the causes of the deadly accident at Tempe on February 28, and also monitor the implementation of the contracts for the upgrading of the railway network, according to a decision on Tuesday during contacts made in Brussels by the minister of state, responsible for infrastructure and transport issues Giorgos Gerapetritis.

The European Commission wants to assist the Greek authorities in the official investigation into the causes of the Tempe railway disaster and in coming up with a railways framework that will be safer and more attractive to citizens, a government minister has said.

The telecommand system of the railway network at Larissa station in northern Greece was the focus, to a large extent, of the confrontation between ruling New Democracy and main opposition SYRIZA in Monday's marathon session of Parliament's Institutions and Transparency Committee.

The parliament's Institutions and Transparency Committee on Monday summoned three former ministers of infrastructure and transport - Kostas A.

The meeting of Parliament's Institutions and Transparency Committee on Monday morning is seen as the latest chapter in the acrimonious exchanges between Greece's political parties as to who was responsible for the deadly train crash on February 28 in northern Greece. 

European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, will visit Athens on March 16 and 17, to discuss the EU's findings of the Rule of Law 2022 report for Greece, and other justice-related issues.

In the wake of the deadly train collision in northern Greece on February 28, three former ministers of infrastructure and transport (Michalis Chrysochoidis, Christos Spirtzis, Kostas Karamanlis) along with incumbent Giorgos Gerapetritis will attend Parliament's Committee on Institutions and Transparency on Monday, which will convene following an initiative of ruling New Democracy's parliamentar

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.

The meetings of the European Commission's delegation of experts in Athens regarding the deadly rail crash at Tempi have now been concluded, Commission spokesperson Adalbert Jahnz said on Thursday in response to questions.

With limited itineraries, lower speeds, fewer trains and stops and mandatory two stationmasters per shift at each station, the railway will be restarted after the tragic accident in Tempi. A basic condition for passenger services to start by the end of the month is to find a common ground with the workers, who rightly ask for increased safeguards to get back on the trains.