No trains on Monday, as railway unions strike - Hellenic Train promises immediate compensation
This affects all train services carried out by Hellenic Trains, said the company, including all Athens suburban railway services.
Railway workers have been striking since Wednesday, ever since Tuesday’s deadly collision, the biggest in Greece’s history, which killed at least 57 and injured several others. This new strike is a 24-hour one, but there seems to be no end to the rolling strikes in sight.
In related news,Hellenic Train, the company that operates Greece’s trains (as distinct from network owner OSE, a state company) announced Sunday it will immediately compensate survivors and the victims’ families and will not make use of an exemption granted by the government.
In a statement, the company says it will “fully comply with existing European legislation, so that the relatives of the deceased, [as well as] the injured and the passengers…are fully [compensated].”
According to a regulation passed in 2007 by the European Parliament, rail operators are obliged to provide a compensation downpayment no more than 15 days after an accident or, in case of death, after the death has been ascertained. In case of death, the compensation cannot be lower than €21,000, the regulation states. The downpayment is made irrespective of final compensation and is non-refundable.
In 2009, the Greek government of the day had exempted TrainOSE, as Hellenic Train was called back then, from the obligation of downpayment for a period of five years. That exemption was renewed in 2014 and in December 2019, under the present government.
