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Greece, Italy to discuss rail ‘restart’ after tragedy: PM

Greece's Prime Minister on Friday said he would discuss with Italy safety improvements on Greek trains run by an Italian state company in the wake of last month's rail tragedy.

Greece, Italy to discuss rail 'restart' after tragedy: PM
Wrecked wagons and mangled pieces of metal are seen near the tracks after a train accident in the Tempi Valley near Larisa, Greece, March 1, 2023. Photo: Sakis MITROLIDIS/AFP

“We will have the opportunity to discuss the way in which the Italian government…will be able to support the restart of Greece’s railways in a more active and substantial way,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told reporters at a eurozone leaders’ summit in Brussels.

Mitsotakis said Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni had accepted an invitation to talks in Athens before the Greek general election in May.

“I believe we have the potential to jointly create a new future for our railways, whereby the Italian company will invest more in reliable, safer and faster trains” and Greece “will invest more in our network, its safety and its possible expansion”, Mitsotakis said.

Greece’s intercity trains went under private management in 2017, when state-owned Greek rail traffic services operator TrainOSE was privatised and sold to Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, becoming Hellenic Train.

Greek state company OSE still owns the tracks.

On February 28, two trains collided head-on after running on the same track for several kilometres (miles), killing 57 people. It was Greece’s worst ever rail disaster.

Most of the victims were university students returning from a long holiday weekend.

Greece’s transport minister resigned and the disaster sparked weeks of angry and occasionally violent protests, piling pressure on Mitsotakis’ conservative government ahead of the election.

The stationmaster on duty during the accident and three other railway officials have been charged and face possible life sentences.

But Greece’s rail watchdog found serious safety problems across the network, including inadequate basic training for critical staff.

Railway unions had long warned the network was underfunded, understaffed and accident-prone after a decade of spending cuts.

Mitsotakis said he would also discuss migration issues — a priority for both countries — with Meloni during her visit.

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STRIKES

UPDATE: What to expect from Italy’s airport strike on Sunday

Airline passengers travelling to or from Italy are set to face further disruption on Sunday, June 4th due to a 24-hour airport staff walkout which has already caused ITA Airways, the country's flag air carrier, to cancel 116 flights.

UPDATE: What to expect from Italy's airport strike on Sunday

Italy’s flag airline carrier, ITA Airways, has cancelled as many as 116 weekend flights due to Sunday’s nationwide airport staff strike, a statement from the company said on Saturday.

According to the statement, the company was working to “rebook the greatest possible number of passengers affected by the cancellations” onto the first available flights, estimating that “60 percent [of passengers] will be able to travel on the same day”.

ITA was also advising all passengers planning to travel with them during the weekend to check the status of their journey either online or by contacting their customer support services directly. A list of all cancelled flights can be found here

READ ALSO: Which airports in Italy will be affected by strikes on Sunday?

At the time of writing, it appeared unlikely that ITA customers would be the only ones experiencing major disruption during the weekend.

Staff from several airlines were set to hold protests on Sunday, with significant flight delays or further cancellations on the horizon.

Staff at Spanish airlines Volotea and Vueling, and Air Dolomiti – a subsidiary of Lufthansa operating routes from Germany to 13 different Italian destinations – were expected to take part in a 24-hour nationwide strike.

Meanwhile, ground staff from American Airlines and Emirates were expected to strike for four hours, between 12pm and 4pm.

Strike at Rome Fiumicino airport

Italy’s flag air carrier ITA Airways has cancelled 116 flights ahead of Sunday’s national airport staff strike. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP

Flights run by any of these airlines seemed likely to experience delays or cancellations on the day, though no further details were available at the time of writing.

It bears noting that, under Italian law, flights scheduled to leave between 7am and 10am and between 6pm and 9pm are protected from strike action.

Earlier this week, Italy’s civil aviation authority ENAC published details of the flights guaranteed to go ahead on Sunday on its web page.

Besides disruption to scheduled flights, operations at both check-in desks and baggage collection points at airports all around the country were expected to experience significant delays on Sunday due to a national four-hour handling staff strike between 12pm and 4pm.

Furthermore, air traffic control operators employed by ENAV’s Rome and Milan centres were set to strike from 1pm to 5pm, whereas Atitech staff at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport and handling staff at Bergamo’s Orio Al Serio airport were set to strike for the full 24 hours, according to the Corriere della Citta news daily.

READ ALSO: OPINION: Italy’s constant strikes are part of the country’s DNA

Sunday’s walkouts were called in protest over employment contracts for handling staff at Italian airports, as unions said pay and conditions had not been improved for six years.

Sunday’s nationwide strike action was initially scheduled for May 19th, but was postponed after disastrous flooding hit parts of the country.

You can keep up to date with the latest strike news from Italy HERE.

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