The train crash was NOT a tragedy

Dear reader,

This is our weekly round-up from Greece.

The country is grieving the train collision victims on Tuesday, 28 February 2023, at 23.21 in Tempi, Central Greece. The news was shocking. It is “the biggest train accident in Greece’s history,” as the Panhellenic Rail Workers Federation president Ioannis Nitsas said (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre).

As we write, the emergency services are still at work, trying to detect and release the bodies inside - or what remained of them. The number of dead (S'ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) as of Friday was 57; 36 of them confirmed their identity. Thirty-eight passengers are hospitalized, seven of them in ICUs.

This accident, however, was not a tragedy. In ancient tragedies, the hero ignores a substantial piece of information that is meant to shape his destiny. In this case, the state knew and had repeatedly been warned about an accident waiting to happen, mainly due to crucial shortages in infrastructure and understaffing - and yet it let it happen.

In short, this was an accident waiting to happen. In this newsletter, we will analyze exactly why.