THE Greek Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has confirmed the formation of Greek Railways following the merger of infrastructure manager Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE), its project delivery subsidiary ErgOSE and property and rolling stock management company GaiaOSE to form a single entity.
The merger follows the approval in July of a bill to radically restructure the national railway. The government has acted in response to the tragic accident at Tempi in February 2023 where 43 people died following a head-on collision between a passenger and a freight train.
The government was heavily criticised in the aftermath of the incident, with the accident report by the National Organisation for the Investigation of Air and Railway Accidents and Public Safety (EODASAAM), published in February, revealing serious systemic failures in the Greek railway sector. Demonstrations took place in Athens, Thessaloniki and Larissa following the accident, which was attributed to the failure of the station master to correctly use an automated method to set turnouts at Larissa station.
More broadly, the report says that OSE did not carry out preventive maintenance of control, command and signalling assets, instead intervening only when they failed. It found that equipment, the working environment and overall organisational arrangements were “stretching the limits of the operational staff beyond what is humanly acceptable in a sustainable way.”
The national railway has continued to suffer from poor maintenance and declining infrastructure quality as well as a shortage of staff following the economic crisis of 2009.
“The aim of the new body is to comprehensively upgrade railway safety, strengthen network supervision and evaluate personnel, based on European operating and governance standards,” the ministry says.
The ministry has also confirmed the seven members of the new company’s board of directors. The chairman is George Ioannou who has led OSE since 2024 and is professor of production and operations management at the Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). Former ErgOSE CEO Christos Palios, who has experience of working on major infrastructure projects rand management of public bodies, has been named as CEO of Greek Railways.
Regulation strengthened
In addition to creating Greek Railways, the legislation approved by parliament will strengthen the Railway Regulatory Authority and EODASAAM. The lack of an independent accident investigation body was heavily criticised in the report by EODASAAM, which was not active at the time of the accident.
The government is also seeking the following institutional changes:
- establishment of a unified supervision centre to act as a central hub for traffic control, data collection, and direct intervention in incidents through the use of digital technologies
- creating the digital platform Railway.gov.gr, which will contain all traffic data, including train location to an accuracy of 50mm and an order and violation recording system
- CCTV monitoring of critical locations such as signal boxes
- medical and psychological monitoring of staff
- introduction of the post of train chief, responsible for the safety of each line and able to intervene and halt traffic
- strengthening the Regulatory Authority for Railways (RAS) and EODASAAM
- more private investment in the railway
- stricter disciplinary procedures, and
- preparation of emergency plans.
