Greece Puts 36 on Trial over Tempi Rail Disaster That Killed 57

By Bosphorus News Staff

The trial for Greece's deadliest rail disaster in modern history opened on Monday morning at a specially adapted courtroom at the University of Thessaly Conference Centre in Larissa, only to be suspended repeatedly within hours over the adequacy of the venue.

Lawyers for the victims' families raised a formal objection from the first minutes, arguing that the overcrowded hall violated the right to a fair trial under the European Convention on Human Rights. Families who had travelled from across Greece found they could not all get seats. Verbal confrontations broke out between relatives and Spyros Patera, the former chairman of the Greek rail network OSE and one of the 36 defendants. The court rejected a request to adjourn in order to change the venue. The next hearing is scheduled for April 1.

Outside the courtroom, protesters wrote the names of the 57 victims on the road in red paint. A 24-hour rail workers' strike brought Greece's rail network to a standstill for the day.

Greece's government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said: "Some are putting on a show. We should let justice do its work."

The Case

The 36 defendants, all rail and transport officials, face charges linked to the February 28, 2023 head-on collision between a passenger train travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki and a freight train near the Tempi valley in central Greece. The crash killed 57 people, most of them university students aged between 15 and 25. It was the worst rail accident in Greek history.

Investigators concluded that the station master on duty that night manually placed the passenger train on the same track as the oncoming freight train. The error was compounded by non-functioning signalling systems, faulty radio communications, inadequate staffing, and years of delayed safety upgrades. Thirty-three of the 36 defendants face felony charges carrying sentences up to life imprisonment. None are in custody. No political figures are among those on trial.

The case file runs to more than 60,000 pages. The indictment alone is nearly 1,300 pages. More than 350 witnesses are expected to testify, including survivors and victims' families. Proceedings are projected to last more than two years.

Pavlos Aslanidis, president of the Victims' Association, who lost his son in the crash, said: "The real culprits should go to prison. Unfortunately, the transport minister at the time is absent. He should have been on trial today."