[Intime News]
An attempt will be made on Wednesday to resume operation of the railway network at Tempe, central Greece, which was cut last weekend due to a severe storm that hit Greece, the head of Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) which operates the rail network, said on Tuesday.
The first goal is to open one track by Tuesday evening for commercial trains trapped at the stations in Athens and Thessaloniki, Panagiotis Terezakis told state-run broadcaster ERT. Then on Wednesday morning, OSE will try to restore operation on all railway tracks, provided that no new problems are caused by the weather.
“At this moment, most of the water in the tunnel has gone. Now the crews have started to remove the mud and the debris brought in to start cleaning the line. Then, they will have to be washed with hoses, until the tunnel is clean so that it can be opened to traffic again,” he said.
Asked why the railway tunnel at Tempe flooded, Terezakis cited the intensity of the storm, saying nothing similar had happened in the area before. “A strong stream of rainwater was created, which carried a large number of debris and clogged the hatchet which protected the tunnel and prevented water from entering.”
He said a full set of cameras have been installed in the tunnels for the past six months and these cameras report to the Tunnel Control Center that exists in Larissa and operates on a 24-hour basis. ‘So the operators of this control center immediately saw the waters,” he said.