Talks between railway staff unions and the transport ministry about the safe rebooting of Greece’s railway network after last week’s fatal train crash “were serious and constructive,” the Infrastructure & Transport Ministry said on Thursday.
The meeting was held by Minister of State responsible for Infrastructure & Transport, Giorgos Gerapetritis, and members of the Panhellenic Federation of Railway Workers Unions (POS), who have declared a national train strike through Friday.
It was agreed that another meeting be held in coming days to continue these talks, the ministry noted in its announcement.
POS submitted proposals that “are timeless, but are at present relevant for a safe, functioning, quality railway service,” noted POS President Yiannis Ditsas. “The ministry is committed to the necessity of having all guarantees in place, both from the state’s side and from the workers’ side, in order for the railway to restart safely,” Ditsas said, adding, “we will meet again next week to see how the process will move ahead.”
POS made several proposals, some of which include the following:
– Adequate training and psychological support for traction and train operation employees
– Gradual return to operation of core train lines, and staffing them with three employees per train from the Train Traffic & Control Staff department
– Immediate return to operation of freight trains in northern Greece, with gradual return to operation of all freight trains throughout the national network
– Reduction of speed limits on railroad sections not managed through automated systems
– Update of the General [Train] Traffic Regulation and its faithful application
– Clear definitions as to the duties of trainmaster
– Adequate availability of spare parts to render rolling stocks reliable
– Reduction of schedules for passenger trains by nearly 50% on
– Restarting the Global System for Mobile Communications-Railway (GSM-R)
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
