Greek Minister: 鈥淲e have not done enough鈥� on railways
Nitos Mitarachi says the Greek government has made progress on the air, road and subway networks but not enough on rail
Greece鈥檚 Migration Minister has spoken to HARDtalk鈥檚 Stephen Sackur about the train crash which killed 57 in the north of the country.
Speaking from Athens, Notis Mitarachi said that though there appeared to have been 鈥渕ultiple human errors on the day鈥�, the government did not want to 鈥渉ide behind human error鈥� and wanted to go 鈥渁 step further鈥�.
Addressing the current Greek government鈥檚 record on transport infrastructure, the minister said: 鈥淭he airline has been privatised and is working perfectly. The highways have been invested in and are state of the art highways. The subway in Athens has been upgraded, the new subway in Thessaloniki is up and running鈥� The railway system is one area where we haven鈥檛 done enough.鈥�
Thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest over the fatal collision of two trains in northern Greece which many have attributed to years of government under-investment.
Addressing the protestors鈥� criticism of the government, Mr Mitarachi said: 鈥淭here is a very strong feeling of grief. That鈥檚 not a prerogative of specific groups that are in the street. Everyone in Greek society feels enormously sad for what has happened.鈥�
A 59-year-old station master in Larissa, who was charged with manslaughter by negligence, appeared in court on Sunday and has been taken into custody.
His lawyer Stefanos Pantzartzidis said the station master had admitted to having a share of responsibility in the accident. He faces between 10 years and life in jail if convicted.
