This is how two trains collided head-on in Greece
A visual description of the fatal crash between a passenger train and a freight train that were inexplicably running along the same track
Thessaloniki
Tempi
Crash site
Larissa
GREECE
Athens
100 km
A passenger train traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, with 346 passengers and 10 crew on board, collided head-on with a freight train shortly before midnight. At least 43 people have been killed and dozens injured.
Thessaloniki
Tempi
Athens
GREECE
E75
Freight train
GRECIA
Passenger
train
The accident took place around 11.30pm as the passenger train was emerging from a tunnel. Both trains were running in opposite directions on the same track
Thessaloniki
Tempi
Crash site
Larissa
GREECE
Athens
100 km
A passenger train traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, with 346 passengers and 10 crew on board, collided head-on with a freight train shortly before midnight. At least 43 people have been killed and dozens injured.
Tempi
Thessaloniki
Athens
E75
Lorem ipsum
Freight train
GREECE
Passenger
train
The accident took place around 11.30pm as the passenger train was emerging from a tunnel. Both trains were running in opposite directions on the same track
Thessaloniki
Tempi
Crash site
Larissa
GREECE
Athens
100 km
A passenger train traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, with 346 passengers and 10 crew on board, collided head-on with a freight train shortly before midnight. At least 43 people have been killed and dozens injured.
Tempi
Thessaloniki
Itea
Athens
E75
Freight train
The accident took place around 11.30pm as the passenger train was emerging from a tunnel. Both trains were running in opposite directions on the same track
GREECE
Passenger
train
The passenger train was covering the route between Athens and Thessaloniki, while the freight train was covering the route between Thessaloniki and Larissa. According to preliminary reports, the passenger convoy shifted onto the wrong track, where the freight train was running, resulting in the head-on collision between the two.
Itea
Tempi
Freight train
E75
Remains of
both trains
It is still unclear why both trains were running on the same track
Passenger
train
The passenger train left the capital at around 7:22pm (local time) for Thessaloniki. The accident took place at around 11.30pm between the stations of Larissa and Katerini. Many of the 346 passengers on board were young students returning to Thessaloniki after celebrating the Greek Orthodox tradition of Clean Monday.
Athens
7.22 pm
Passenger train's
schedule
Accident
11.30 pm
(approximately)
Larissa
Katerini
Thessaloniki
Source: Hellenic Train (tickets.trainose.gr)
Itea
Tempi
Freight
train
E75
Remains of
both trains
It is still unclear why both trains were running on the same track
Passenger
train
The passenger train left the capital at around 7:22pm (local time) for Thessaloniki. The accident took place at around 11.30pm between the stations of Larissa and Katerini. Many of the 346 passengers on board were young students returning to Thessaloniki after celebrating the Greek Orthodox tradition of Clean Monday.
Accident
11.30 pm
(approximately)
Athens
Larissa
Katerini
Thessaloniki
7.22 pm
Passenger train's schedule
Source: Hellenic Train (tickets.trainose.gr)
Tempi
Itea
Freight train
Remains of
both trains
It is still unclear why both trains were running on the same track
Passenger
train
The passenger train left the capital at around 7:22pm (local time) for Thessaloniki. The accident took place at around 11.30pm between the stations of Larissa and Katerini. Many of the 346 passengers on board were young students returning to Thessaloniki after celebrating the Greek Orthodox tradition of Clean Monday.
Accident
11.30 pm
(approximately)
Athens
Larissa
Katerini
Thessaloniki
7.22 pm
Passenger train's schedule
Source: Hellenic Train (tickets.trainose.gr)
The stretch of track where the crash took place had double lanes and automatic controls, but switching and signaling were still being done manually. Danger alert systems have not worked for years.
The Larissa station master, a 59-year-old man, has been arrested after giving a statement. According to the Reuters agency, the detainee has denied any negligence and has blamed the accident on a possible technical failure.
Three cars almost “completely destroyed”
Freight train
Thessaloniki-Larissa
Double track and automatic controls that were not working
Direction
of travel
Shipment of metallurgical material
The first car was shattered and the others sustained damage
Engine
Head-on
collision
Passenger
train
11:30 pm
Athens-Thessaloniki
Direction
of travel
Engine
Three cars were destroyed and two caught fire
Passengers
Café car
Tunnel
Freight train
Double track and automatic controls that were not working
Thessaloniki-Larissa
Direction of travel
Shipment of
metallurgical
material
The first car was shattered and the others sustained damage
Engine
Head-on collision
11:30 pm
Passenger train
Athens-Thessaloniki
Engine
Direction of travel
Passengers
Three cars were destroyed and two caught fire
Café car
Tunnel
Freight train
Double track and automatic controls that were not working
Thessaloniki-Larissa
Direction of travel
Shipment of
metallurgical
material
The first car was shattered and the others sustained damage
Engine
Head-on collision
11:30 pm
Passenger train
Athens-Thessaloniki
Engine
Direction of travel
Passengers
Three cars were destroyed and two caught fire
Café car
Tunnel
The first three passenger cars derailed. The first two, which caught fire, were “almost completely destroyed” according to Thessaly regional governor Konstantinos Agorastos. The mayor of Tempi, Giorgos Manoli, said that temperatures of 1,200 to 1,500 degrees Celsius were reached inside the burned cars, according to Europa Press.
Although the details are still unclear, many of the victims appear to be students who were gathered in the first two cars and suffered the full force of the impact. The second car served as the train’s canteen, according to The Guardian.
It is the most serious railway accident in Europe since 2013, when 79 people died in the vicinity of Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain when a train went off the tracks after entering a bend at an excessive speed.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
More information
