The Railway Regulatory Authority in collaboration with the National Rail and Aviation Accident Investigation and Transport Safety Agency (EODASAAM), organized an informative working meeting at the Authority’s offices to discuss the adoption of the urgent Safety recommendation recently addressed by EODASAM to the Railway Operators, following the accident in Tempi.
The purpose of the meeting was to inform the bodies to whom the recommendation was addressed. To obtain a common and clear understanding of the actions required for each of the recipients of the recommendation, but also to plan the next steps for its implementation.
Participants
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Infrastructure Manager OSE, the Railway Companies HELLENIC TRAIN, STASY, GFR-GREEN BRANCH, the Vehicle Owner GAIAOSE and members of the Working Group “Support for Greece” of the EU Agency for Railways (ERA).
EODASAM, as the official authority for carrying out railway accident investigations under EU legislation, has opened an investigation into the catastrophic accident in Tempe on 15 March 2024. The sole purpose of EODASAM’s investigations is railway safety.
It should be noted that EODASAAM does not establish guilt, liability or conduct of proceedings. Although the full investigation into the Tempe accident is still ongoing, sufficient evidence has been collected to justify the issuance of this urgent recommendation.
Security Recommendation
This safety recommendation concerns the direct cooperation of representatives of the Greek railway sector for the implementation of:
First: A secure methodology for safety-related communications between train drivers and signal controllers (station masters) that respects the requirements of Commission Executive Regulation (EU) 2023/1693 amending Executive Regulation (EU) 2019/773 on the technical specifications for interoperability relating to the traffic management subsystem of the rail system in the European Union, and in particular Appendix C thereof.
In second place: A means of communication that allows direct communication between station managers and train drivers for any safety-related communication, i.e. the implementation of the radio communication system GSM–R.
Following the exchange of views and information during the said meeting, the Railway Regulatory Authority committed to undertake, as a first step, the preparation and presentation of a plan of proposed actions, to assist the Greek railway sector, to serve the implementation of the said Safety Recommendation.