Yet another safety breach on Greece’s railway has prompted an urgent judicial investigation on Thursday seeking answers as to why a Suburban Railway (Proastiakos) train was routed onto a metro track which was reported by the union of train drivers (PEPE) took place on October 9 near the Doukissis Plakentias station in northern Athens and involved a commuter train on the Kantza-Ano Liosia route being mistakenly directed onto the metro Line 3 track It reportedly had to back out to return to its proper position The error is being attributed to a stationmaster at the central Acharnes Railway Center and the train driver who appears to have ignored two warning signals The Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) said that the incident did not put any passengers at risk said that it has activated disciplinary procedures the incident underscores mounting concerns about safety systems on Greece’s national and suburban railway network in the wake of last year’s deadly crash at Tempe and a string of potentially dangerous incidents in the months since Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Residents in Gennimata and Kanala in Ano Liosia in the northwestern part of the Athens agglomeration have been urged to evacuate to Liosia due to wildfires in the area the flames have already consumed some buildings Authorities have also ordered that the capital’s main landfill at Fyli be closed until further notice Evacuation alerts have also been sent to residents in the Lofos Kyrillou area in Mandra Attica; Gratini in Komotini; Agios Kosmas in Kavala; and Makri Agia Paraskevi and Mesimvria in Alexandroupoli Features A tale of hardship and the consequences of wrong decisions He is a devout Christian but also a hardcore anarchist a recovering heroin user and a HIV carrier Christos is also the reason why we started the Lost Athina project I first met him one hot August night while making our way up Stadiou street in central Athens asking for a cigarette or some loose change; we got to talking about his difficult life on the streets of this metropolis and instantly felt this is a story that needs to be shared What first struck us about this man was his honesty He didn’t shy away from admitting he had done wrong He opened up and shared intimate details about how bad choices he has made in his life have let him and his loved ones down Christos was born in 1972 in central Athens in a family with six children but with very little money to feed them would walk around the streets of Metaxourgeio with his mule His mother was a dishwasher at the Athenian department store Minion in Omonoia Both parents worked very long hours for very little money leaving Christos and his siblings to take care of themselves “My life in crime started at an early age; hungry and with no money we started to steal fresh milk from outside people’s houses,” Christos explains He then went on to sell lottery tickets in Omonia and quickly formed part of a child gang that would pickpocket passers by we had no role models – I was too poor to enrol in school my father was a drunk who frequented whorehouses and beat my mum … the only time he paid attention to us was when he was hitting us,” Christos admits During his teenage years Christos went to live with his godfather in Ano Liosia and worked for him in his factory while trying to stay out of trouble Greece was still trying to find its identity a modern nation state dealing with the aftermath of civil war and then a military dictatorship got caught up in the growing anarchist movement trying to deal with the cultural clashes that came along with it its culture and its religious beliefs were tested by a new European way of life with consumerism taking charge like never before I believe in God and Jesus Christ but I was against the system and I guess it’s strange to say but I also believe in many of the ideas and theories that anarchists subscribe to.” a move that saw him sentenced to prison for the first time While in his prison he met others with more criminal experience than he had and together a group of four plotted to rob a bank on the island of Rhodes They managed to get away with 10,000,000 drachma “We eventually got caught because two of the guys went and bought flashy new cars and motorbikes one of them an Alfa Romeo and the other guy a Yamaha dirt bike On a small island like that you are bound to get caught if you’re showing off.” He showed us his release papers which he still carries with him “A reminder of the stupid things I’ve done,” he says It was in prison where Christos first got hooked on heroin and upon release from jail he turned to the streets of downtown Athens to score his fix “Once you’re hooked it’s hard to think of anything else Your whole life is caught up with trying to score another hit.” Christos has spent the last decade on the streets sleeping on cold marble floors in the middle of winter and relying on petty crime and donations to feed his habit “It’s a life I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy,” he says the carelessness of needle sharing with people you barely know is what most likely led to him contracting HIV He now relies on the Greek government to supply him with the appropriate medicine but he says the system is just as sick as the patients it is supposed to be helping “The health system is so corrupt and no one is doing anything about it The government receives a lot of money through European Union funding to pay for medicine to help HIV carriers but we rarely get the help we require The government does get this money but very little of it is then spent to care for those of us which the funds are allocated to.” He has to deal with the dangers of living out in the open while trying to cope with his illness He says at age 43 he still has a lot to look forward to “Jesus gave me the strength to kick my heroin habit Now I must find the power to beat this sickness and get my life in order.” Police in northeastern Athens are investigating a shooting incident and the ramming of a patrol car The incident began shortly before midnight on Holy Thursday in the Ano Liosia district at the junction of Fylis and Vlastou streets when the driver of a silver SUV fired three shots at a black SUV with two occupants When a police patrol car arrived at the scene the driver of the black vehicle attempted to escape and crashed into the patrol car When police located the vehicle a short distance away Police believe they have identified the man who opened fire and have launched a manhunt Police have learned that unknown individuals earlier opened fire on the home of the man who shot at the black car The projects for the extension of the Suburban Railway in Western Attica are on track Aspropyrgos and Nea Peramos out of the transport isolation While Line 4 of the Athens Metro is in the implementation phase awaiting the sinking of the second metro module in the first half of February the next pending extension is also the one in the west from Anthoupoli to Ilion the leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport will be in Megara at the construction site of the project to upgrade the existing railway line that will connect Ano Losia with Megara forming a new branch of the Athens Suburban Railway Signatures with the contractor METKA (Mytilineou Group) were signed just before the Christmas holidays and the engines are in full swing as the project with a budget of €132.61 million (including VAT) The new suburban line will run along the corridor of the old OSE metric line to the Peloponnese also connecting major industrial units such as HELPE This is a project that will give a boost to the movement of residents and workers in important industrial and freight zones of Attica while the option also brings the Old Railway Station of Megara into the frame which will be activated with the approval of the environmental conditions for this section The connection to the HELPE Aspropyrgos facilities as well as the possibility of future development of branches connecting to the industrial area of Vamvagia and/or the Elefsina shipyards provides the possibility of serving freight transport The works will take 28 months from the date of signature of the contract Two more extensions of the Athens Suburban Railway are in the future plans but the issue of financing is grounding the plans Although the connection of the suburban network to the ports of Lavrio and Rafina has already been put out to tender by ERGOSE the streamlining of the projects by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has postponed the potential implementation date the two projects are within the large €4 billion rail package but although connecting the train to the country's main ports is of undeniable value securing European funding is proving to be a difficult exercise the next two extensions of the Suburban Railway are part of the new OSE's medium-term investment plan along with the much-discussed extension of the Thessaloniki Suburban Railway this project is also in a single tender with the railway connection of the 6th pier of the PPA as it is part of the ten-year plan of the country's new single railway operator The largest fixed-track project is of course the Athens metro Already the first metro module has started its journey from Katehaki the assembly of the second metro module in the Veikou Grove is expected to be completed within the first two weeks of February The two TBMs are expected to come together to open the Line 4 tunnel "Also Veikou - Goudi" in 2026 the first new extension of the existing metro network is being prepared The tender for the extension of Line 2 to Ilion is currently underway The completion of the environmental licensing of the project will start the next phase of the tender so that financial bids can be submitted in 2024 The approximately 4 km of new line is designed to cover several densely populated areas of West Attica It is estimated that the new section of the Line 2 extension after Anthoupoli with three stations at Palatiani will serve at least 67,000 passengers per day A priority for the next extension of the capital's network is the connection to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre It concerns the underground connection of the electric line (Line 1) after the station of Thiseio to Kallithea The cost is estimated at 450 million euros The maturation of the project has been started by Hellenic Metro and it is estimated that it will take two years to complete There is also a next phase of development of this new branch to Paleo Faliro the maturation of the extension of the network to the northern suburbs is at an initial stage the city's congestion is planned to be relieved by extending Line 4 the Orange Line will be connected to Maroussi from Goudi with seven new stations It will serve the municipalities of Psychiko-Philothei The double project has a total estimated budget of more than 1 billion euros prompting the deployment of aid from six countries through the European Union’s civil protection mechanism This response comes as Greece experiences an alarming convergence of gale-force winds and temperatures soaring to 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit) described the situation as “unprecedented” due to the extreme weather conditions He noted that fires on Tuesday “swelled to enormous proportions” in a remarkably brief period eighteen individuals suspected to be migrants were found deceased in a forest fire near the Turkish border north of Alexandroupolis the possibility that the victims were unauthorized entrants into the country is under investigation This area frequently serves as an entry point for irregular migrants adding to the situation’s complexity These newly reported deaths contribute to the overall toll of 20 fatalities from the ongoing fires this week “Local media are now mentioning eight more bodies so a possible total of 26 charred bodies in that area,” he said Numerous other blazes spread across northeastern Greece The devastating fires prompted the evacuation of the hospital in Alexandroupolis forcing the relocation of 65 patients to a ferry docked at the city’s harbour the fire near Alexandroupolis threatens the national park of Dadia a crucially important European protected area renowned for its rare birds of prey a fire that ignited on July 18 and was fueled by strong winds consumed nearly 17,770 hectares (approximately 43,850 acres) over ten days in the south of Rhodes a popular tourist island in the southeastern Aegean Sea The extent of the fire forced the evacuation of approximately 20,000 people who was murdered by her former partner outside Agioi Anargyroi police station in northern Athens on Monday night was held on Thursday in a climate of deep anguish and anger in the Church of Agios Nektarios in Ano Liosia The 39-year-old culprit has been remanded to a prison psychiatric ward pending trial after testifying before an investigative magistrate Police have come under fire for failing to assess the seriousness of the risk she faced when she reported her concerns at the Agioi Anargyroi police station She was murdered shortly after leaving the station The incident has obliged the leadership of the Hellenic Police (ELAS) to proceed immediately with changes and improvements in management and protocols for dealing with incidents of domestic violence One of the changes being immediately promoted is the creation of safe spaces or safe houses in which victims or anyone under threat can find shelter under the responsibility of the police Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis will hold a teleconference on Friday with officers all over the country to secure spaces for the protective custody of those who are at risk of domestic violence According to official data of the Citizen Protection Ministry incidents of domestic violence have doubled since 2020 This has been attributed to the escalation of violent incidents and the increase in the number of victims who decide to report incidents of violence to prosecuting authorities Eight suspects have been detained so far during an ongoing police operation in the western Athens suburbs of Zefyri and Ano Liosia Friday Most of the suspects have been convicted of several offences in the past Police have so far seized more than 500 grams of cocaine and five 9mm bullets The operation comes after videos emerged on social media showing young people in Zefyri holding weapons and firing into the air The videos were seen as a message to members of rival gangs based in the wider area of Ano Liosia There is also speculation that the move is related to an armed attack a few days ago in a cafe on Filis Street in Athens that belongs to one of the most powerful families in the area The identity details and photographs of four Greek citizens members of a criminal organization that committed thefts from homes of elderly people in areas of the southern suburbs of Attica pretending to be employees of an electricity company MUSTAFA Antonis of Chrysovalantis and Ioanna RAMMO Konstantinos-Mario of Kyriakos and Antonia DIAMPANIS Konstantinos of Panagiotis and Dorothea according to the relevant Prosecutor’s Order detecting and prosecuting crimes of a similar nature committed by the accused and their accomplices against other victims preventing threats to public safety and protecting the community citizens are requested to contact the telephone numbers 210-9692920/933 of the Security Sub-Directorate of South-Eastern Attica and 210-6411111 of the Attica Security Directorate It is noted that the anonymity and confidentiality of communication is guaranteed As revealed by the preliminary investigation had formed and joined a group with continuous activity and distinct and alternating mostly in the early morning or midday hours would locate their prospective victims at the time they returned to their homes They would select elderly persons whom they would deceive pretending to be employees of an electricity company and convince them to allow them to enter their homes After securing entry into the homes and keeping their victims busy they would artificially remove sums of money and valuables from inside the homes they would convince the elderly to wrap sums of money and jewelry in aluminum foil to “protect” them from the impending work and then remove them After searches at the homes and in the possession of the accused From the preliminary investigation so far -8- cases of theft from the homes of elderly people in the areas of Glyfada The investigation to ascertain the full scope of their criminal activity continues Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr According to confidential reports by the Greek police almost 50% of the crime in Attica originates in the Roma settlements that are under the full control of mafia groups vying for the dominance of the areas only 15 kilometres from the heart of Athens They are the “independent democracies” of Attica which in recent decades have become ‘no-go zones’ for the police and a haven for drug Although most of the inhabitants of the Roma settlements do not participate in illegal activities and try to live their lives according to law they are fearful for their lives if they decide to open their mouths A code of silence “Omerta” is the common reaction to illicit actions which led to the death by police of a young Roma who had stolen a car is indicative of the situation that prevails The vast majority of Greek Roma may be fighting for survival and abstaining from illicit actions Children and young people fall into petty crime and engage in theft 17 Hyundai Accent 1,300 cc were stolen from the wider area of ​​Renti – similar to the car that was used by the Roma victim in the bloody police pursuit- used for theft and raids by gangs in the western suburbs and were later found burned at the Schistos area Kalashnikovs and carbines are the norms for the gang members trying to enforce their rules and expand their turf influence Misunderstandings and incidents with guns and drugs in the background are almost a daily occurrence while the role of some police officers is strange and obscure The leadership of the Ministry of Civil Protection plans to break the vicious circle of lawlessness by launching operations to liberate at least five Roma camps from mafia families who enforce the unwritten law of omerta and have turned them into strongholds of illegality According to a confidential report of the Hellenic Police the dangerous no-go zones start from the Aspropyrgos camp which is used as a base by many predatory groups law enforcement officers are “forbidden” from entering and operating many of their Balkan Roma are also hiding there and involved in most of the crime since every time they are arrested they change their identity the trafficking of drugs and weapons is flourishing even children who are used by the gangs for the trafficking of drugs have been recorded There are two communities in the area: the ‘northerners’ and the ‘southerners’ beastly 4×4 vehicles roam the muddy streets while the sale of cocaine and hashish is one of the prevalent illicit activities Kalashnikovs and silence is the modus operandi as crime pervades the air and it is difficult to find a single person who is not carrying a piece In Menidi there are parts of the settlement where the gangs are in complete control and specialise in drug trafficking gangs of Greeks and foreign Roma terrorise residents and impose their unwritten laws By the end of 2026 to early 2027, the Suburban Railway of western Attica will be opened to traffic connecting all coastal areas from Elefsina to Nea Peramos and Megara with the existing suburban railway network to Athens and the airport The network includes eight stop stations: HELPE Aspropyrgos it is the upgrading of the existing Suburban Railway of Western Attica namely the section Ano Losia – New Megara Station – P.S with the contractor being Metlen Group’s METKA company financed by the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF) and will connect Western Attica with Athens Piraeus and the rest of the railway network The project involves the construction of a new suburban railway branch from Ano Losia to Megara within the existing railway corridor of the old railway line to the Peloponnese the scope of the project concerns the construction of a single 36km-long line in the west of Athens from Ano Losia to the old railway station of Megara on the axis of the old metric line of the SPAP serving the densely populated areas of Aspropyrgos the project concerns the renovation of the superstructure of the Railway Line with new materials and its certification to the Interoperability Principles and includes the installation of a 25kV overhead contact line system the installation of a signalling and telecommand system with ETCS L1 with all station information systems telecommunication systems and E/M installations at the stations.The final project will be interconnected with the High Speed Railway Line (HST) at the Ano Liosia railway station The project budget also includes the branch line to the old Megara station the construction of which is an option that is activated with the approval of the environmental conditions for this section the Western Attica Suburban Railway will not only serve areas with a population employed in industries in the wider region but a large number of logistics centers are currently being organized along it while at the same time the load of heavy vehicles circulating on the PATHE axis will be reduced.” It is noted that one freight train is equal to the traffic of 15 – 20 heavy vehicles on the road axes