Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 27, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleGreek investigators find ongoing rail safety gaps two years after the deadly Tempi train crash, urging critical improvements.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's worst rail disaster in 2023 was due to chronic safety gaps that still need to be addressed to prevent a repeat, Greek investigators said on Thursday.
On February 28, 2023, a passenger train coming from Athens and a freight train coming from Thessaloniki collided head-on near Larissa in the Tempi area, killing 57 people, most of them students.
The probe by Greece's Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (HARSIA) into the causes of the crash and the state's response is the first by a national authority to conclude.
It comes just before the anniversary of the disaster, which Greeks will mark with mass demonstrations that are expected to bring the country to a standstill.
"Those children were killed because the train was not safe," said HARSIA's head, Christos Papadimitriou, describing the report as an X-ray of the rail system that would help to address deficiencies.
HARSIA has drafted 17 recommendations for the railway regulator; the operator, Hellenic Train; the state-owned Hellenic Railways Organisation, responsible for the network; and the transport ministry.
The recommendations cover hiring and training, renewal of assets, and deployment of recording equipment to help with accident analysis.
The crash led to a huge fireball and an explosion, but it is still unclear how they happened. Most of the victims died in the crash, but up to seven were killed by the fire, HARSIA said.
The authority was only set up in late 2023 and launched its probe in March 2024, more than a year after the crash, which meant it had to rely on others for much of its information, it said.
A judicial investigation is expected to wrap up this year. Experts hired by the families released their findings more than a year ago, highlighting deficiencies.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Yannis Souliotis; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
The article discusses ongoing rail safety gaps in Greece, highlighted by a recent investigation following a deadly train crash in 2023.
The investigation found chronic safety gaps in the Greek rail system and made 17 recommendations for improvements.
The investigation was conducted by Greece's Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (HARSIA).
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