The government will present, on Monday, a draft bill to the Cabinet that will introduce a comprehensive set of measures aimed at upgrading rail safety, strengthening control mechanisms, and establishing uniform supervision across the entire national rail network.

The government is moving to act in response to the prolonged public outcry over the Tempe railway disaster, which claimed 57 lives just over two years ago.

At the heart of the reform package is the creation of Railway.gov.gr, a new digital platform that will serve as Greece’s first Digital Railway Data Registry. Currently, communication between stationmasters is conducted either verbally or on paper.

The new system will bring railway operations into the digital era by recording every train movement across the country in real time. For the first time, all orders given by stationmasters will be officially logged, ensuring greater accountability among staff. Mistakes will be traceable through a formal record, allowing for faster corrections and, when necessary, the imposition of sanctions, without the need to search through audio files or paper documents.

The platform will also publicly display the live geolocation of all trains, giving citizens real-time access to the status of train routes across the country. In addition to tracking live movements, Railway.gov.gr will archive comprehensive data on each journey, from departure times to final stops, creating a complete and transparent record of the nation’s rail traffic.

Another key provision of the bill will introduce stricter consequences for safety violations. Employees found to have breached safety rules, as documented through the new platform, may face dismissal.

Since the staff are employed by Hellenic Train, the operator of passenger and cargo train services, the state will formally request the company to terminate individuals who violate protocols. If Hellenic Train fails to comply, sanctions will be imposed directly on the company.

Source: Ekathimerini.com