ATHENS, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Greece is requiring Italian-owned railway operator Hellenic Train to invest 420 million euros ($487.41 million) in new trains and maintenance to improve safety nearly three years after the country’s worst rail disaster.
The requirements are contained in amendments to a 2017 state contract with Hellenic Train approved by parliament late on Thursday, the transport ministry said in a statement.
“For the first time, the contract includes a break clause. If trains are not delivered and put into service by 2027, the state can terminate the contract,” the statement said.
On February 28, 2023, a passenger train coming from Athens and a freight train coming from Thessaloniki collided head-on near the town of Larissa, killing 57 people, mostly students.
Experts hired by the families of the victims and Greek investigators have highlighted safety deficiencies.
Hellenic Train had already announced part of the new agreement – a 308 million euro investment in new electric trains from Alstom – in December, calling it “a decisive step toward a safer, more modern and more passenger-focused railway”.
The trains will be fitted with a system for remote communication between drivers and traffic controllers and to control a train’s brakes from a distance, Hellenic Train said.
A project co-funded by the European Union to install the system was launched in 2014 but was repeatedly pushed back. EU prosecutors have charged numerous Greek officials with malpractice over that contract.
The transport ministry statement said 100 million euros of investment by Hellenic Train was earmarked for maintenance infrastructure, depots and digital systems.
Following a judicial investigation, a trial over the train crash is expected to start in March. Hellenic Train said last year it had provided all required data and was committed to continuing full cooperation with the inquiry.
“We fully trust the legal proceedings due to start later this year,” Alexandra Kassimi, a spokesperson for Hellenic Train, told Reuters on Friday in response to a request for comment.
($1 = 0.8617 euros)
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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