{"id":8788,"date":"2020-02-04T13:02:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T11:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/miir.gr\/?p=8788"},"modified":"2024-03-20T16:24:03","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T14:24:03","slug":"warning-no-signal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miir.gr\/en\/warning-no-signal\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning, No Signal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Only 30 km of the whole rail network in Greece has functioning train traffic lights. The installation of new European Train Control System has derailed in the country because of mismanagement \u2013 costing tens of millions of public funds and several fatalities.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Author: Nikos Morfonios<\/em><\/p>\n

Date of publication: 6\/2\/2020<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cWarning No Signal\u201d.<\/h2>\n

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This is the phrase one could imagine seeing on a sign for the Greek railways\u2019 signage and telecommunications system \u2013 a project which has been in the process of implementation for ten years already, but is not in place yet. It has cost millions of euros, and has done nothing to improve the conditions which leave trains in Greece prone to deadly accidents: 137 deaths and 97 serious injuries have been recorded between 2010 and 2018.<\/p>\n

Analyzing all the available data and statistics about railway accidents in the EU, it turns out that Greece tops the chart for the number of deaths (relative to kilometres covered in 2018), and comes second in terms of serious injuries. Among the main categories of accidents are train derailments and pedestrians being hit by moving trains, with inadequate signage and inadequate rail traffic management being arguably the main cause.<\/p>\n

The Greek Regulatory Authority for Railways (RAS) came to the same conclusion in its 2017 Special Report on \u201cSystem Recording and Tracking of Incidents on the National Rail Network”, which notes that serious railway accidents such as the 2017 accident in Adendro near Thessaloniki, which left 3 dead and 6 injured, \u201cmost likely would have been avoided if the telecommunication and signaling system had functioned\u201d. This is a reference to the Automatic Train Protection System, which is connected to the new European Train Control System (ETCS). Greece had installed that system many years ago within the framework of the\u00a0<\/span>European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS)<\/span>.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Index<\/h2>\n

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– 80 per cent of the lights that actually exist are shut off, or red<\/a><\/p>\n

– What has gone wrong?<\/a><\/p>\n

– Delays by international contractors<\/a><\/p>\n

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– An increase in public expenditure by \u20ac22 million<\/a><\/p>\n

– The responsibilities of ERGOSE<\/a><\/p>\n

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80 per cent of the lights that actually exist are shut off, or red<\/h2>\n

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In Greece, train signage and rail management are based almost exclusively on individual experience. Greece has never had advanced systems for it, and the conventional signage system does not work. According to Kostas Genidounias, train driver on the Athens-Thessaloniki route and president of the Panhellenic Union of Train Personnel, \u201cthe train signage system and electronic management are not functioning in Greece. There is no protection system against human error, such as ETCS, which intervenes when drivers are about to make a mistake. For example, the accident in Adendro took place because the train driver didn\u2019t have the necessary signals; therefore, human error was not prevented. These systems are in trains all across Europe, only in Greece trains circulate based solely on experience\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cAcross 90 per cent of the network,\u201d Genidounias continues, \u201cdrivers have no indication whether they are going down a side pass, no indication that they have to reduce speed at that location, everything becomes arbitrary even at speeds up to 160 km\/h. The same goes for all train personnel: trainmasters, points-men and others work without electronic systems. You ask the train points-man, \u2018Hey Kosta, have you turned the key\u2019, and he\u2019ll answer \u2018yes I have\u2019. But you can\u2019t check if he has actually done it; you just have to trust the person telling you that they have done it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Later, Mr. Genidounia was more open and informal: \u201cI\u2019ll give you one more example to better understand the situation. A train today will leave Athens with telegrams, the same way train movement was organized in 1975. For example, yesterday I did the route from Athens to Larisa. I left Athens and continued until the Acharnes Railway Center: the trainmaster gave me permission to continue to Kiourka, then they gave me permission for Inoi, then for Tithorea, Lianokladi, Palaio Fasarlo, and finally Larisa. All this is done with a wireless at each station.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is that throughout the whole route we go through side-passes with no indicators, no traffic lights. 80 per cent of the lights that actually exist are shut off, or red! Only the route between Athens Airport and Acharnes Railway Center has electronic management systems and traffic lights. With the suburban line reaching the airport, that system is pretty well maintained. At the moment, in total, only 30 km of the whole rail network has functioning train traffic lights. This isn\u2019t just minimal: it\u2019s less than the minimum. Over the past decade, Greece has seen the implementation of projects which have been due since the 1990s: the Kallidromo, the Othris tunnel, electromobility, Larisa Station in Athens, projects which have given trains in Greece some new-found energy. Even so, up until now, no security system is functioning\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, the signage doesn\u2019t function,\u201d confirms Mr. Genidounia\u2019s colleague Panagiotis Paraskeuopoulos, points-man at the Dekelias Station in Athens and president of the Panhellenic Federation of Railways. Talking about the new system, he stresses that \u201cif it worked, the overall distance of the Athens-Thessaloniki route would be reduced from the four hours it is today to three and a half hours! With an electronic management system, the driver would always know exactly what he is doing. Even if he was reckless, it\u2019d be impossible for him to make a mistake, because the system would show him a red light. It wouldn\u2019t let him pass with a red light, like it does now. \u2018Pass a red light at your own risk\u2019: this is how train circulation is handled today. And when people work 28 days a month, with exhausting hours, a mistake is waiting to happen; statistical speaking, at some point you\u2019ll make a mistake\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Photos: MIIR<\/p><\/div>
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What has gone wrong?<\/h2>\n

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At the moment, throughout the Greek railway network, the European Train Control System (ETCS) does not work at any point \u2013 not even at points where the equipment has been installed, such as some routes in the Athens region. Smaller installations also exist along the Platy-Thessaloniki and Inoi-Chalkida routes. Throughout the rest of the network, installation projects date back to 2007, when the first contracts for the introduction of ETCS on tracks and trains were signed. In other cases, such an introduction was integrated within future projects, with deadlines aligned with the general ERTMS deadline (2030), as it is the case for the ORIENT\/EAST MED corridor which passes through Greece.<\/p>\n

All railway sections with integrated but inoperative ETCS installations, current projects and future installations, are pinpointed on the interactive map below, which is based on data from ERGOSE (a subsidiary of the Hellenic Railways Organization responsible for railway construction projects).<\/p>\n

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