On the occasion of the third anniversary of the deadly train collision at Tempe, the Hellenic Investigation Authority (National Organization for Investigation of Aviation and Railway Accidents and Transport Safety – EODASAAM) issued a related announcement on Friday. According to the statement, the Railway Sector of the organization operates as an independent national accident investigation body, with the exclusive goal of improving safety in the railway network. This process is based on scientific and technical evaluations and does not aim to assign blame. Additionally, the announcement provides details regarding the financial costs required for the investigation of the Tempe accident, highlighting the scope and complexity of the research.
Tempe: Full announcement from investigation authority three years after railway tragedy
On the occasion of the completion of three years since the deadly Tempe disaster, two years of substantial operation of the Railway Sector of the National Organization for Investigation of Aviation and Railway Accidents and Transport Safety (EODASAAM) and one year since the publication of the Report on the accident, the Management of EODASAAM wishes, first and foremost, to express its deep solidarity with the relatives of the victims of this tragic incident.
At the same time, we consider it our obligation to inform public opinion about the role and institutional framework of the Organization, providing a brief reference to the history of the report on the Tempe disaster. Specifically:
The Railway Sector of EODASAAM constitutes the independent National Investigation Body for accidents and incidents in the country’s railway network.
The Organization’s investigation was conducted in accordance with:
- Directive (EU) 2016/798 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on railway safety, as amended and in force.
- Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/572 of the Commission of 24 April 2020 on the structure to be followed for railway accident and incident investigation reports.
- Law 5014/2023 of the Greek Parliament of 23/1/2023 on the “Institutional framework for the investigation of aviation and railway accidents for transport safety and other provisions”, as amended by Laws 5167/2024 and 5220/2025 and in force.
The no-blame investigation framework, transparency and safety improvement approach of this investigation is referred to in the Railway Directive (EU) 2016/798 which applies to all EU member states, and specifically in paragraphs (38) to (41) of the preamble and in articles 20 and 26, from which we highlight the following:
The purpose of investigations conducted by EODASAAM is to improve railway safety, through identifying the causes and factors that contributed to incidents, as well as issuing recommendations to prevent similar accidents in the future. The investigations and reports of EODASAAM do not aim to assign blame or legal liability. This is reflected in the methods used for their preparation, in the selection of data collected, in the nature of the questions posed and in the concepts used. Furthermore, any Safety Recommendation issued concerns the improvement of the railway system and does not create a presumption of liability or legal responsibility for the investigated accident or incident.
The documented findings of this report constitute the formulation of an impartial position as a result of scientific, technical evaluations of all available evidence and data.
The conclusions of this Report and the Safety Recommendations are published by posting on the Organization’s website, which is also the exclusive means of expressing the official positions of EODASAAM.
At the time the tragic Tempe disaster occurred, the Organization and specifically its Railway Sector was essentially inactive, and for this reason the Greek State requested the cooperation of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), which responded fully with the assistance of the Head of the European railway accident investigation sector Mr. Bart ACCOU and member of the same Agency Mr. Fabrizzio CARPINELLI. With the crucial assistance and support of the two aforementioned specialist experts, both the conduct of this particularly demanding investigation and the drafting of the related Investigation Report, as well as the institutional establishment and development of the railway Sector of our Organization, were made possible. It is also important to note that the cost required for the participation of these officials in the investigation was covered entirely by ERA. The only cost borne by EODASAAM for the investigation amounted to twenty-eight thousand euros (28,000€) and concerned: a) the contract with the RISE Institute (amount 10,000€), b) the contract with the University of Ghent (amount 15,000€) and c) the contract with the RST Rail Systems Testing laboratory (amount 3,000€).
For the above reasons, we wish to express our warm thanks to all those who contributed decisively to the investigation of the accident, which resulted in the formulation of 18 substantial Safety Recommendations, which constitute the springboard for the safe reorganization of the country’s railway system and whose implementation EODASAAM monitors with regular updates at regular intervals.
Special thanks are addressed to the aforementioned outstanding members of the European Union Agency for Railways, as well as to Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering of AUTH, Athanasios Konstantopoulos, for his selfless and substantial contribution to the above investigation.
