Athens, March 2 (AFP\/APP): About 700 people gathered Thursday outside the headquarters of Greek rail operator Hellenic Train to protest chronic failures that led to a collision between two trains this week that claimed dozens of lives.<\/p>\n
“We are angry towards the company, towards the government and past governments that did nothing to improve conditions in the Greek railway,” said Stavros Nantis, a pensioner.<\/p>\n
The protesters held a moment of silence to honour the accident’s 47 confirmed victims, an AFP journalist saw.<\/p>\n
The station master on duty when the accident took place near the central city of Larissa has admitted responsibility for putting the two trains on the same track.<\/p>\n
But trade unionists say the accident would not have happened had the line been equipped with automated safety systems that successive managements had failed to install.<\/p>\n
Even when the company was privatised in 2017 and sold to Italy’s Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane, safety concerns persisted, Nantis said.<\/p>\n
“Everybody thought that privatisation would solve the problems. The Italian company promised to modernise the railway and nothing was done. It’s a disgrace,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Athens, March 2 (AFP\/APP): About 700 people gathered Thursday outside the headquarters of Greek rail operator Hellenic Train to protest chronic failures that led to a collision between two trains this week that claimed dozens of lives. “We are angry towards the company, towards the […]<\/p>\n
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