Rail transport

A 24-hour general strike called by Greece's private and public sector unions, in protest at rail safety deficiencies that led to the deaths of 57 people in the February 28 train crash at Tempe, is expected to shut down most services around the country on Thursday.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has told train company representatives that the restructuring of the country's railways "is not just a universal demand of Greek society but is now also a personal matter for him."

Almost 800 million euros have been allocated in aid to the Greek railways by the European Union, according to a representative of the European Commission in comments to Kathimerini. 

The first amount for the installation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) was already allocated way back in 2000.

The Athens metro stops "Syntagma" and "Panepistimio" were shut down at 10:30 on Sunday for a rally taking place at Syntagma Square over the deadly train collision accident at Tempe.

The rally is being held downtown as of 12:00 noon, and metro trains will be passing through the two stations mentioned above without stopping.

Among those who died in the train accident in Greece, there is also a Bulgarian, Mediapool reported. 22-year-old Denis Rutsi was in the fifth carriage of the passenger train that collided head-on with a freight train on February 28. 57 people died in the accident, and two Bulgarians were among the injured.

The Anti-Money Laundering Authority has launched a general financial audit for bribes in railway network owner OSE and its subsidiaries.

The audit was ordered by authority chief Charalambos Vourliotis, a deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court.

Striking labor unions disrupted mass transit in Greece on Wednesday to protest the deaths of 57 people in the country's worst train disaster, which exposed major safety deficiencies.

Public transport will be disrupted on Wednesday due to the nationwide strike called by the Greek Civil Servants' Union (ADEDY) as part of protest mobilization over last week's deadly train collision at Tempe.

Two doctors working at a hospital in Volos have been suspended from duty pending a disciplinary inquiry after it emerged that they granted 30 days of sick leave to a key Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) supervisor just hours after the deadly train collision at the nearby Vale of Tempe.

As unions across the Greek public sector plan nationwide strikes and rallies on Wednesday in reaction to last week's fatal train collision in the Vale of Tempe, workers on the capital's metro, electric railway (ISAP) and tram are also planning to walk off the job to join the action.