Human error, outdated infrastructure and major systemic failures are to blame for the head-on train collision that killed 57 people two years ago in Tempi, Greece, according to a newly released report. The report, released Thursday, February 27 took two years to complete.
The 178-page report was issued the day before the second anniversary of the crash as people were planning protests and strikes in an effort to emphasize the slow pace of the investigation.
A routing mistake by a station master sent the passenger train onto the same track as an oncoming freight train resulting in a collision about 235 miles north of Athens. In a recording released at the time of the accident the station manager appears to instruct a driver to “pass the red signal” before that train collided head-on with another near the city of Larissa in northern Greece. Forty-six passengers and 11 rail staff were killed in the accident.
Other causal factors included poor training, staff shortages and deteriorating rail infrastructure with no automated safety controls, the report said. It added that no public investment to the system had been made in years. The report and its findings were published by the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority.