Greeks bemoan aging infrastructure and maintenance issues following fatal train crash
https://sputniknews.com/20230318/greeks-bemoan-aging-infrastructure-maintenance-issues-in-wake-of-deadly-train-crash-1108527314.html
Greeks bemoan aging infrastructure and maintenance issues following fatal train crash
Greeks bemoan aging infrastructure and maintenance issues following fatal train crash
Greek citizens blame aging public infrastructure, poor maintenance and staff cuts as well as EU-imposed austerity policies for the recent train collision that killed nearly 60 people
2023-03-18T06:23+0000
2023-03-18T06:23+0000
2023-03-18T06:23+0000
world
Greece
train crash
railway
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“Greece has the worst rail network in Europe. The EU has invested hundreds of millions of euros in this area and the rail infrastructure in Greece is as it was 20 years ago, everything works on the based on a verbal interaction between the interlocutors in terms of rail and the highway code, there is not even a GPS system to follow the trains online as is the case in other European countries”, has explained Aggeliki, a 34-year-old civil engineer from Crete, while expressing her anger at the Greek government, which she accuses of not investing in security systems.She also noted that infrastructure in areas popular with tourists is maintained , while other parts of the country are not so lucky in this regard despite infrastructure investment from the European Union.This sentiment was echoed by 32-year-old lawyer Nikos, who also drew the attention to the fact that “in some other d omes, the public infrastructure is as it was in the sixties, unchanged and that is not something acceptable, especially for a country with 13 million visitors a year like Greece.” He also suggested that there were signs that EU funds had been mismanaged for years and this was evident in people’s daily lives. Meanwhile, Manolis, a 56-year-old Cretan bus driver, suggested Greece’s economic crisis played a part, blaming EU-imposed austerity policies rather than the government for the recent tragedy. He also cited his own experience as a transport worker, describing the state of the country’s infrastructure. “The quality of the asphalt [on the roads] is getting worse and worse and they no longer maintain anything properly as far as the road network is concerned. It’s only because people like me and other professionals working in transport do their best that we don’t have more accidents in other areas as well, and that decline started in 2010 with the economic crisis and that hasn’t changed since,” Manolis suggested. A retired employee of Hellenic Train SA who preferred to remain anonymous said that in 2011 and 2012 the company had to lay off many employees, doubling the number of daily tasks for the remaining staff. At the same time, the former employee recalled the regular employee training as well as the high safety standards during their tenure. On March 1, a passenger train collided with a freight train near the Greek town of Larissa. The passenger train had tipped onto the track of the freight train. before the accident, which brought them both into the same lane and resulted in a fatal head-on collision. The head of the Larissa station was arrested. According to media reports, he admitted his guilt and said he had mistakenly sent a passenger train on the wrong track. Railway workers, in turn, cited chronic safety issues that authorities have ignored for years. The Greek government has pledged to carry out a thorough investigation into the causes of the disaster.
https://sputniknews.com/20230309/greek-prime-minister-assumes-personal-responsibility-for-deadly-train-crash-1108215157.html
Greece
2023
News
en_GB
Greek citizens blame aging public infrastructure, train collisions and poor maintenance
Greek citizens blame aging public infrastructure, train collisions and poor maintenance
ATHENS (Sputnik) – Greek citizens blame aging public infrastructure, poor maintenance and staff cuts as well as EU-imposed austerity policies as responsible for the recent train collision that killed nearly 60 people, according to people interviewed by Sputnik.
She also noted that infrastructure in areas popular with tourists is maintained, while other parts of the country are not so lucky in this regard despite infrastructure investments from the European Union. This sentiment was echoed by the 32-year-old lawyer, Nikos, who also drew attention to the fact that “in some other areas public infrastructure is as it was in the sixties, unchanged and not is not something acceptable, especially for a country with 13 million visitors a year like Greece.”
“I don’t think the level of public infrastructure in Greece is what it should have been for an EU member state. Greece became an EU member state in 1981, since then billions of Euros have been poured into the economy for infrastructure development, and yet you still see that some aspects of public infrastructure are intact and unchanged from the 1960s,” Nikos said.
He also suggested there were signs that EU funds had been mismanaged for years and that this was evident in people’s daily lives.
“You can see and read many times that the EU is funding infrastructure projects worth millions of euros in our country and in some cases we experience that, but overall , I would say that I don’t think the level of infrastructure in Greece is what it should have been for an EU member state,” Nikos observed.
Meanwhile, Manolis, a 56-year-old Cretan bus driver, suggested Greece’s economic crisis played a part, blaming EU-imposed austerity policies rather than the government for the recent tragedy. He also cited his own experience as a transport worker, describing the state of the country’s infrastructure.
“The quality of the asphalt [on the roads] is getting worse and worse and they no longer maintain anything properly as far as the road network is concerned. It’s only because people like me and other professionals working in transport do their best that we don’t have more accidents in other areas as well, and that decline started in 2010 with the economic crisis and that hasn’t changed since,” Manolis suggested.
A retired employee of Hellenic Train SA who preferred to remain anonymous said that in 2011 and 2012 the company had to lay off many employees, doubling the number of daily tasks for the remaining staff.
“However, to my knowledge, I cannot say that there was any bad management or any bad training for the employees, but the main problem, at least in my opinion and in my experience, was the fact that many people have been made redundant during this period and this has led to adjustments in the remaining staff,” the retiree said.
At the same time, the former employee recalled the regular employee training as well as the high security standards during their tenure.
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