On Monday 8th May a cooperation agreement was signed at the Prime Minister’s official residence, the Megaro Maximou, for the transfer of know-how between Greece and France on matters related to the railways. Signing the agreement were the Greek minister of State Giorgos Gerapetritis – responsible for transport matters since the resignation of the Transport minister Kostas Karamanlis over the Tempe rail disaster – and the French minister of Transport Clément Beaune. The agreement will be followed by more specific agreements between the countries’ respective rail authorities, namely the Hellenic Railway Organisation (OSE) and the SNCF.

The agreement covers:
– the prevention of railway accidents
– the regulation of liability issues of railway operators
– the organisation and supervision of rail transport safety
– staff education and training
– the organisation of rail traffic control centres, and
– the organisation of committees and establishment of procedures for the investigation of rail accidents.

“Our two countries have a long-standing friendship and a history of collaboration,” Mr Gerapetritis said in comments at the signing. He mentioned the tragedy of Tempe and referred the need for a “safe restart of the Greek railways”.

The French railway system is one of the most developed in the world, employing 200,000 workers on a network of 35,000 kilometres. This is not the first time that such an agreement has been signed between the two countries. In 1972 the OSE signed a similar cooperation agreement with SOFRETU (Société française d’études et de réalisations de transports urbains), a French transport consulting and project development firm created in 1961 which was subsequently merged with SNCF.
(ERT News)