Tempi trial: victim's brother calls the 2023 crash a foreseen crime

Brother describes the victim's last moments

Vaggelis Vlachos, whose younger brother was among the 57 people killed in the Tempi rail crash of 28 February 2023, testified before the three-member felony appeals court in Larissa on 2 November 2026. He told the court that the family had planned a holiday together in the summer of 2023 and that the only thing they saw that summer was a closed white coffin. He said the family had spent the time since searching the case file for answers, and that he believed many of them were there.

He described footage from Palaiofarsalos station, which he had compiled into a video for his mother so she could watch it each night. He said the images showed not only his brother's final moments but also a situation that had existed long before that evening.

“This situation shows it was an ongoing crime, a foreseen crime.”

Questions on fire and rail safety

Vlachos said he was persuaded by the official account of the fire, which points to silicone oils combined with an electric arc. He added that the search for responsibility does not end with that explanation. He argued that fire safety should be examined across the entire train fleet, not only the seats.

He also said Hellenic Train executives were referred for trial only on misdemeanour charges, although the file contains indications of felonies. He claimed that shortcomings in rail safety had been known to officials in key posts years before the collision. He told the court that the signalling system at Zachari had burned, with no signalling since, and accused the OSE of showing a tremendous lack of respect.

Scholarship and the family's demands

The family has set up a scholarship in his brother's memory in the Technical Geology and Environment department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where the victim had studied. Vlachos said three scholarships have already been awarded, funded by the family and by money raised in place of funeral wreaths. The victim had studied the Tempi tunnels for his postgraduate work and was looking forward to a project certifying railway carriages from Spain.

“Beyond the conviction of those responsible, what really interests me is that something changes.”

Vlachos described the family's aim as two goals. He said it wanted justice, but also safety on the railways.

“It is a double goal: there must be justice, but there must also be safety.”

Court schedule and pending documents

The court has scheduled three sittings in the week of 2 November 2026, with 21 witnesses expected to testify. Six of them were due to testify on 2 November 2026, including Vlachos and relatives of another victim, Ioannis Voutsinas. Survivors have been questioned in recent sessions about the minutes before and after the collision, including where they saw fire and the speed of the train.

The court has ordered the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Infrastructure and Transport to send warning letters and other legal documents from the European Commission covering 2016 to 2026, translated into Greek. These documents concern whether Greece complied with its rail safety obligations. The court reserved its decision on summoning the ministry's general secretaries for 2016 to 2023, a request made by Lukas Apostolidis, the lawyer supporting the prosecution.

The court is also awaiting a forensic report from the Hellenic Police Criminal Investigation Directorate on the mobile phone of the defendant station master on the night shift, which was seized after the crash. The court asked for it to be delivered as soon as possible when it announced the decision at its 29 September 2026 session.