420,000 euros in compensation awarded to the relatives of a victim of the Tempi railway tragedy

The Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens has notified the contents of the determination of the Court of First Instance of Athens No. A2847/2026 determination of the 25th Chamber (Trial Chamber) which awarded 420,000 euros successful damages, positive statutory interest, for the intelligence anguish suffered by relatives owed to the decease of their child, member and grandson, during the railway mishap successful Tempi, connected 28 February 2023.

The administrative judges ruled that the Greek State for the tragic bid mishap successful Tempi owed to nonaccomplishment to supervise the railways and ordered it to wage monetary compensation (damages) to the relatives of the victim, with involvement from the day of filing of the suit and until its repayment.

From the time of the decease of the unfortunate and until the outgo of the magnitude due.
More specifically, it was ruled that “Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport had improperly exercised its supervisory authorization successful matters of railway information and contributed to the tragic railway accident.

First of all, the Administrative Court of First Instance, presided implicit by the President of the Court of First Instance, Christos Mousouros, with the First Judge Dimitra Dislidou arsenic rapporteur, concluded that:

“At the clip of the mishap successful question, the railway infrastructure was not supported by the pursuing technological systems for the information of bid movement:

a) the broadside airy signalling, which was already retired of work betwixt Larissa and N. Poron successful 2019,

b) the telecommand and postulation power system, which, among different things, does not let to automatically drafting incompatible routes, utilizing which the IC 62 train’s routing would beryllium made by the cardinal relation and transmitted for execution to the stationmaster of Larissa,

c) an automatic braking enforcement strategy (including ECTS) for the lawsuit that the operator does not comply with the airy signals, which, if it were operating and the way of the IC 62 rider bid was plotted from the descent enactment (either by the Larissa stationmaster oregon by the cardinal telecommand operator), the adjacent presumption from Larissa (N. Poroi) would not wide the descent enactment for freight bid 63503 and the airy awesome astatine the exit from N. Poroi to Larissa would beryllium red.

And if the operator of bid 63503 did not comply and violated the reddish airy awesome astatine the exit from N. Poros, the ETCS strategy would activate automatic braking for some trains IC 62 and commercialized bid 63503, which would beryllium stopped connected the spot and

d) the GSM-R continuous and uninterrupted vigor connection system, which has been installed since 2018 connected the railway way Kiato-Athens – Athens – Thessaloniki – Premahonas/Eidomeni, but has not been installed connected each caller trains connected the Greek railway network.

If the GSM-R strategy were afloat operational, the operator of bid IC 62 would person the possibility, arsenic soon arsenic helium realized that helium was moving connected the descent line, to pass with the operator of the oncoming commercialized bid 63503 and some of them would recognize that they were connected a collision course.”

Responsibilities astatine the Department of Transportation

In different portion of the tribunal determination it is underlined that the tribunal is of the sentiment that “the Greek State, done the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, has inadequately exercised its supervisory competence successful matters of railway information and has causally contributed to the damaging effect done this amerciable omission, though it could person been prevented”.

More specifically, the tribunal determination points out:

“The findings of the ERA’s 2019 National Safety Authority monitoring audit of the deficiency of capable oversight by the RSA were sent to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, which failed to instrumentality immoderate action.

In summation to being informed of the inadequate workout of supervisory powers by RAS, the suspect Greek State, done the competent Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, and careless of the circumstantial accusation provided by bodies of the railway relation arsenic mentioned above, should, successful immoderate case, person been alert of the non-existence of operational information systems successful the railway arsenic described above.

This work of the Greek State is aggravated by the information that some the non-operation of these systems connected the railway and the insufficient, the ineffective and unsuccessful workout of supervision by the RAS successful the OSE connected information issues connected the railway (already overloaded and with importantly outdated technological instrumentality arsenic is evident from the findings provided) was manifested for a agelong time, jeopardizing the perfectly protected ineligible rights of beingness and carnal integrity of the users and employees of the railway.

In spite of this, the defendant, the Greek State, by failing to workout its supervisory powers arsenic described supra and, successful this context, its warrant relation successful ensuring the information of obstruction transport, by failing to ensure, wrong the clip strictly necessary, that the due measures are taken to guarantee the timely cognition of the information systems connected the railways, a supervisory powerfulness which, however, is besides exercised successful narration to a nationalist undertaking providing captious services of wide interest, which is perpetually taxable to the dependence, supervision and power of the nationalist authorities.

After the railway accident, moreover, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure launched an extended run to upgrade, renew and successful immoderate cases widen the existing railway infrastructure, including, successful particular, the adaptation of the signalling and telecommand strategy and the installation of the automatic bid power strategy (ETCS).

As a effect of the foregoing, the tribunal finds that the Greek State, done the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, has failed to workout its supervisory powers successful matters of railway information successful accordance with the foregoing and has causally contributed to the detrimental effect by its unlawful omission, though it could person been prevented.

In particular, this unlawfulness, successful presumption of the defendant’s long-standing cognition of the malfunctions successful the information systems already successful spot astatine the clip of the accident, the deficiency of modern operational information systems susceptible of preventing an mishap caused by quality error, and, astatine the aforesaid time, the deficiency of supervision by the RAC successful information matters was susceptible of causing, and yet brought about, the harmful lawsuit (death of the plaintiffs’ relatives) arsenic a effect of the obstruction mishap that occurred.

The affirmation of the beingness of unlawful acts oregon omissions connected the portion of the institutions and of those initially liable (OSE and RAS), arsenic those who are successful rule competent to woody with matters of railway safety, does not pb to an presumption that the above-mentioned warrant liability of the suspect Greek State is extinguished, which, connected the contrary, arsenic converging with the liability of the above-mentioned, remains intact. Any assertions to the contrary made by the suspect Greek State indispensable beryllium rejected arsenic unfounded.

Consequently, the tribunal determination concludes, the plaintiffs’ assertion for compensation from the Greek State is established, by nonstop exertion of Article 105 of the Introductory Law of the Civil Code and Article 932 of the Civil Code.”

On the contrary, the Athens Administrative Court of First Instance ruled that “the enactment should beryllium dismissed to the grade that it is directed against OSE S.A. and partially upheld to the grade that it is directed against the Greek State.”