The causes behind the disastrous rail accident in the Greek Tempi Valley in February 2023, which claimed the lives of 57 people, are many and convoluted. A recent report from the Greek Aviation and Railway Safety Investigation Agency (HARSIA) has now listed recommendations for both Greek and European institutions to improve safety and prevent such tragedies from reoccurring.
When it comes to the recommendations made by HARSIA to Greek entities, the agency addressed the Greek Regulatory Railway Authority (RAS), the infrastructure manager OSE and the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. The Italian rail operator Hellenic Train, in charge of the passenger convoy involved in the accident also received some recommendations. On a European level, HARSIA had words for the European Commission and the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).
RAS
The HARSIA recommendations for RAS included the development of an occurrence reporting system and the implementation of the necessary supervision activities. The reporting system should include guidelines for how to choose the events to be reported, criteria for deciding the depth of the analysis, how to handle the results of an investigation and prevention information. Regarding the supervisory activities, RAS should take inspiration from the approach taken by other EU Member States, the report specified.
OSE
The Greek IM was the one receiving the highest number of recommendations from HARSIA. They span from the introduction of systemic reviews of the risks related to the state of assets and human resources to a clear methodology on accident reporting. Other recommendations revolve around improving competence management systems and the monitoring of the performance of safety-critical tasks.
When it comes to the human resources side, the infrastructure manager needs to clarify which competencies it is looking for, the selection principles and training of personnel, including periodic assessments. The focus when it comes to the human factor needs to be on ensuring the well-being of railway workers after such accidents. Other than establishing an issue reporting mechanism and encouraging open communication, there should be an effort in preventing Post-Trauma Stress Disorder (PTSD)
When it comes to asset management programme, OSE should make sure to have in place a system which would include inventory, real-time and performance monitoring, risk and financial management and maintenance planning. Similarly to the HARSIA recommendation for RAS, OSE should establish a system for reporting, logging, investigating and analysing rail accidents as well and maximise the availability of data.
Hellenic Train
The recommendations made by HARSIA for Hellenic Train were the same as some of the ones made for RAS. Namely, they concerned competence management system and the development of a system for monitoring the performance of safety-critical tasks.
Greek ministries
HARSIA also had a few recommendations for the Greek ministries of transport and of climate crisis and civil protection. For the former, the recommendations remained quite vague, with mentions of ensuring rail safety and providing regulatory authorities with the proper tools to carry out their tasks.
For the latter, the focus was on interdisciplinary coordination between the various accident response teams. The recommendations stated that the ministry shall provide guidelines on how to set up perimeters and map accident sites, prevent PTSD risks and involve HARSIA in preliminary investigations.
European institutions
The last recommendations made by HARSIA in their 178-page report were directed towards the European Commission and ERA. The issue with ERA concerns the Single Safety Certificate, which the agency awards to operators in Europe. When awarding this certificate to Hellenic Train, ERA had some concerns but they were considered as non-blocking, meaning not necessarily problematic. Thus, HARSIA claimed that ERA should add new criteria for deciding when to limit Single Safety Certificate validity. For the European Commission, the Greek body recommended the developments of a framework for necessary corrective actions and their timely implementation. Finally, it should also define an assessment framework for operational safety rules in EU Member States.