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passenger and freight services have been halted since a
passenger and a cargo train carrying more than 350 people
collided head-on on Feb. 28 on the same track near the city of
Larissa, killing 57.
The rail disaster on the Athens-Thessaloniki route, Greece's
deadliest on record, has sparked mass protests over safety
shortcomings at an ailing network, the legacy of a decade-long
financial crisis which ended in 2018.
The government has acknowledged delays in installing safety
modern systems across the network and ordered a judicial
inquiry, but has blamed the crash mainly on human error. Railway
unions say the government repeatedly ignored their calls to
improve safety systems.
Police have detained four railway workers, including the station
master on duty after the magistrates' office charged them with
disrupting public transport leading to deaths.
The Greek regulator also said last week that the station master
and others had "inadequate" training.
"We will do whatever is humanely possible to win back the trust
of our passengers," OSE rail agency Chief Executive Officer
Panagiotis Terezakis said at a central Athens station before the
first services set off.
"Considering that the train is the most environment-friendly
mode of transport, it is worth putting all our efforts into its
swift and safe resumption," Terezakis said.
Rail services will gradually resume in the next five weeks,
Terezakis said, adding that trains will run at slower speeds and
with an enhanced workforce at stations to safeguard travel.
Rail experts have pointed to years of delays in completing a
remote traffic control and signalling system across a 2,500-km
(1,550-mile) rail network, which could have averted the
accident.
(Reporting by Stamos Proussalis and Angeliki Koutantou; Editing
by Alison Williams)
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