by 
* * * On Thursday, April 27, the Minister of State, Mr. Gerapetritis, made his last visit to Larissa station (where he again made erroneous statements about the “local remote control”) but also announced the reopening of the Thessaloniki – Larissa line “until the end of next week”, that is to say until Friday, May 5th. A week later, Hellenic Train still has no schedule to hit the road again, “throwing the ball” at OSE. Somehow another Mr. Gerapetritis timetable falls, which raises questions as to whether the Minister really understood the problems of the railway and even more if he has any control over the situation management.
* * * The truth, however, is that train drivers are preparing for the resumption of this specific route, however, in recent days railway workers have been complaining about Tree branches which hinder the visibility and safety of the passage of trains between Thessaloniki and Larissa but also on other lines in northern Greece, due to the failure of OSE to take measures for their preventive pruning, a problem which, indeed, has been observed continuously in recent years years. Indeed, this week, as it is reported, a train was “trapped” at Adendros and the assistance of a rescue locomotive was needed to open the line.
* * * Problems certainly exist – and will continue to exist – with them railway tunnels which only one train can pass at a time. For the next period, the preparation of new emergency security plans will also be underway. while a solution is also sought for the GSM-R problem.
* * * According to the information, the OSE is moving towards announcing a tender for the mission up to 5 years of maintenance and operation of the GSM-R communication system. Until then, however, the sale of this project is planned for a period of 10 months. This week, the OSE committed a loan of 1,273,000 euros for the project”Provision of ten months of management, operation and maintenance services with elimination of defects and restoration of damage in all internal equipment and despite external equipment of the railway line of the GSM-R radio coverage system in the traffic control center of SKA, on the Piraeus-Thessaloniki-Promakhonas railway line, on the Kiato-airport railway line and on the other branches of the Thriasio-Ikonio and Oinoi-Chalkida line”. The above amount is for the year 2023, while for the year 2024 an amount of 460,896 .63 euros was committed.
* * * The approval of the implementation of two important security projects in Thessaly will be voted tomorrow by the board of directors of the OSE: this is the project corrective actions in 75 change tracking between the commercial station of Larissa and Aeginion and the project of construction of an access corridor to the Tempo tunnel escape tunnels.
* * * His signature cooperation agreement between Greece and France at ministerial level is only a first step since the signing of more specific cooperation pacts between the OSE and the SNFC should follow. In addition to the issue of safety, Mr. Gerapetritis mentioned that there will be cooperation in the areas of staff training, in the regulation of liability issues of railway operators, in the organization of control centers of the traffic and in the organization of committees (for which reason the plural was used) for the investigation of railway accidents. Would we have a railway today if this cooperation had been attempted 5, 10 or 15 years ago?
* * * In last night’s debate of political leaders, there were, as expected, also references to the Tempe accident. However, the only question directly related to the railway issue was put to the Prime Minister about the otherwise the modernization of the railway was one of the government’s biggest mistakes. Mr Mitsotakis replied that “measures have been taken in this area as well and obviously there have also been breakdowns and delays for which we have paid dearly”, then addressing his response to the fixed means of track and extensions of the metro , which have little to do with the incomplete maintenance and non-upgrading of the railway.
* * * Thessaloniki: Problem for traders at the new Thessaloniki railway station due to the interruption of most lines
* * * The realization of an expertise by Italian specialists, and more precisely of the company Hitachi Rail, ordered the investigator calling for the accident of Tempe. As we pointed out, the expert opinion announced some time ago did not include technical expertise. The investigator also requested a digital depiction of the train collision by an expert cinematographer // In mapping the situation of the victims of the Tempe drive-by tragedy, the Commission of Inquiry of the Families’ Independent Technical Advisors proceeded
* * * Problem with the commuter train Thursday evening caused delays and cancellations of services on the Kiato line. In the relevant article, we have added a testimonial from a passenger as well as an update from Hellenic Train.
* * * Larisa: Intervention by the public prosecutor’s office following a complaint by an OSE train driver concerning falsification of an official document to absolve OSE officials of any liability in the fatal accident that claimed the life of a 34-year-old motorist at the Carla level crossing, where the bars were not working in June 2022.
* * * OSE has requested an offer from a company for the implementation of a detection and recording of bioburden at Athens train station. Concretely, the project with a budget of 30,000 euros excluding tax includes the mapping of the Athens SS premises for the qualitative assessment of the cleanliness of the station and the strategic selection of overloaded points for metagenomic analysis, detection of microbial communities in public areas of the station (stairways, elevators, platforms, employee and public toilets, employee offices, passenger services, ticket offices), the collection and analysis of a sufficient number of samples (more than 50) using appropriate protocols and equipment, bioinformatics analysis, statistical analysis and visualization of results and interpretation of the results produced and proposal of measures.
* * * The MYTILINEOS company clarified, in response to a publication, that the project it carried out in 2020 on the Kiato – Rododafni section did not include the electrification of the line, which is the subject of another contract. Moreover, a few days ago, it took place moving machinery from Aigio to Thessaloniki, by the company Rail Cargo on order of the OSE. The machines will be used for the immediate repair of sections of the line in northern Greece to remove delays.
* * * How the construction abuse in a railway tunnel they postpone the realization of the project of the axis E65 and increase the cost of the contract – Kolafos for ERGOSE the designer and reports TEE
* * * Germany: Two workers killed in train accident // Denmark: The supply of new trains is being prepared with the objective of full automation of the network by 2029 // Spain: 50% discount on Interrail tickets for young people under 30 // European Commission investigation into unfair competition practices of the railway company RENFE // European Union: The elimination of diesel in the railways by 2050 is considered unrealistic, since today only 60% of the lines are electrified // United Kingdom: How the railway celebrated Charles’ coronation // Ukraine: One wounded by shelling at Kherson railway station // Australia: Combination of batteries and hydrogen could replace diesel trains, study finds
Alexandros Liaros – athenstransport.com
