Greek stationmaster suspended after 2 trains were ordered onto a collision course

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A train stationmaster was suspended Friday and faces disciplinary action after allegedly giving an order that would have placed two passenger trains on a head-on collision course on the same stretch of track on Athens’ suburban railway, Greece’s railway company said.

The company, Hellenic Train, said another stationmaster at a different station and the drivers of both trains quickly realized the mistake and stopped one of the trains about half a kilometer (about one third of a mile) before it entered the single track.

Friday’s incident comes about a year and a half after a similar mistake led to the worst railway disaster in Greek history, in which 57 people – mostly university students heading back to classes after a holiday – were killed when a passenger train smashed into an oncoming freight train which had been mistakenly placed on the same track.

The Feb. 28, 2023 crash sparked widespread public anger, particularly following revelations that the train stations were poorly staffed and safety infrastructure was broken and outdated.

Hellenic Train said Friday the “strict adherence” to railway traffic regulations, which it said include multiple safeguards, “is the determining factor in the smooth running of railway traffic.” It said it was further reinforcing staff training “in order to avert isolated mistakes” and improve services.

“Today we could truly have had … a serious incident which was averted thanks to the professionalism and commitment of the train drivers, who realized what was about to happen,” the train drivers’ union said in statement.