On 28 February 2023, a head-on collision occurred between two trains south of the Tempe Valley in Greece, about halfway between the Greek towns of Tempi and Evangelismos in the Thessaly region. The collision, involving the InterCity 62 (IC62) passenger train and an intermodal freight train, killed at least 57 people, with an official number of 342 passengers and 10 onboard railway staff on the passenger train and 2 staff on the freight train totaling 354 passengers on both trains. It is the deadliest rail disaster in Greek history.
The first priority of the Greek Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (EODASAAM) in the railway sector is now to investigate the most deadly and tragic railway accident in the country’s history, the Tempi railway accident. When the tragedy occurred on 28.2.2023, EODASAAM had been established by Law no. 5014/23, but was operating under a transitional administration and without the new members of the Council, who were appointed on 18/09/23.
Immediately after taking up its duties, on 30/09/2023 EODASAAM sent a request for assistance to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), in order to assist our organization with a special investigation team which, in cooperation with EODASAAM officials (railway investigators), will investigate the accident. It is noted that in January 2024, the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision was issued, which defines the necessary qualifications of the investigators, while today the transfer of the first railway investigator was published in the Greek Government Gazette. The transfer of additional numbers of railway investigators is expected in the near future.
In accordance with the provisions of (EU) Directive 2016/798, but also the general principles and methodology governing accident investigation, the investigation process must ensure direct access of investigators to the scene of the accident, the collection of evidence on the spot, direct interviews with survivors so that the description of the incident is as objective as possible and not influenced by subsequent impressions and images, and of course the non-distortion of the accident scene. This will not prevent us from conducting all additional investigative activities, as deemed necessary when further analyzing the underlying causes of this tragic event.
EODASAAM managed to collect with immediate and continuous actions immediately after the appointment of its Council material from the Public Prosecutor’s Office conducting the judicial investigation, the railway safety authority (RAS Railway Regulatory Authority), the companies involved and the infrastructure manager (OSE, Hellenic Railway Organization).
A team of experts from ERA, headed by Mr Bart Accou, Head of Safety and Operations of ERA, has been at the offices of EODASAAM since 13/2/2024, after all the material provided by our Agency was given to them in the previous months in order to decisively assist in the investigation of the accident with its high level of expertise and to guide the railway investigators of EODASAAM.
The official investigation started with the appointment of the first rail accident investigator, today on the 15th of February 2024.
With a strong sense of duty towards the 57 dead, the injured and their families, we declare that the staff and management of EODASAAM will make every effort to ensure that the investigation of the accident proceeds in the fastest and most complete way possible in order to produce recommendations that will change the safety of the Greek railway system in a sustainable way, in line with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2020/572.
In this context, we invite the relatives of the victims to provide our Authority with any information that, in their opinion, could contribute to the investigation of the accident and we declare that we will always be at their disposal for two-way communication and information regarding the progress of the investigation. Any findings from expert committees and investigations carried out on their own initiative will certainly be a crucial element of the conclusion report.
EODASAAM also invites the relatives of the victims to appoint a technical advisor to be kept informed of the progress of the investigation and to provide our Authority with any information that is essential for the investigation of the incident.
At the same time, it should be noted that according to European legislation (indicatively the Directive 2016/798/EU) and the Greek legislation (Law 5014/2023), the investigation conducted by EODASAAM is completely independent from the judicial investigation, as according to the spirit and the letter of these provisions, the national authorities investigating railway accidents conduct an investigation that does not aim to identify guilty parties and those legally and criminally responsible, but to identify the systemic safety problems that led to the accident in order to make the necessary safety recommendations to improve the level of railway safety and prevent future accidents.
Finally, we declare once again that our organization will devote all its efforts to this investigation, as it has a moral and legal obligation to do, but also as a minimum sign of respect and empathy for the 57 dead, the injured and the suffering of their families.
