The resumption of Hellenic Train's Intercity Athens-Thessaloniki services, 32 days after the collision in Tempi, was particularly emotionally charged today, especially when it passed the point of the tragedy.
The moment when Intercity passed the point of the fatal collision was also touching. In fact, the train driver announced at the time of the crossing that he was "passing the spot" where 57 people lost their lives.
Together with the journalists on the train, there was at that time the supervisor and instructor Christos Papakonstantinou, who made the cross after passing by the scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywSfrjJmKbw
Early on Monday morning, dozens of citizens boarded from the Thessaloniki railway station bound for Larissa and Athens. The first route left Thessaloniki at 10:28.
"Whatever will be, will be. No worries, we are professionals. There is emotion, it was a difficult situation for everyone, but everything is fine. It must continue and it will continue safely," said one of the train's two drivers, a few minutes before the route started from Thessaloniki.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxcvtdm5d9w
Passengers, young and old, boarded the train with a smile, while dozens of tickets were reportedly snapped up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYEYew22XmA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za5a0hNbEQE
From Athens and in particular from Larisis station, the first train 882 departed at 08:28 in the morning bound for Kalambaka with passengers, among others, the Minister of State responsible for transport matters, Giorgos Gerapetritis, and the president and managing director of OSE Panagiotis Terezakis.
"Today we have the restart of the routes to Thessaloniki and Kalambaka. With a time delay, the trains start today. We are on schedule and there remains the suburban train to Kiato which will start towards the end of next week," said Giorgos Gerapetritis, who rode the first route to Kalambaka.
After thanking the employees of OSE and Hellenic Train, Giorgos Gerapetritis emphasised that "we have upgraded the security level so that passengers can feel confident and have a security level that meets their expectations."
57 people have been confirmed dead and more than 80 others injured in the head-on collision between a freight train and a passenger on February 28.
About 350 people were on board the passenger train, which was traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, according to the Greek rail operator Hellenic Train.
The passenger train was traveling at a speed of about 103 mph when it collided with the freight train, according to the Hellenic Fire Service. Greek state TV reported that the two trains were running on the same line for 12 minutes, or a distance of about 11 miles.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday that the incident was "mainly due to tragic human error."
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