A new safety scare has shaken Greece’s railway network after passengers on a Thessaloniki–Larissa train claimed the service mistakenly entered the wrong track on Tuesday evening.

According to passenger reports, the suburban train, which departed Thessaloniki at 17:30, traveled several kilometers on an incorrect line before coming to a halt and returning to its proper route. One railway employee reportedly told a concerned passenger that “something happened with the switch key,” an explanation that only deepened the anxiety on board.

The incident, said to have occurred just outside Thessaloniki, has renewed fears about railway safety—three years after the deadly Tempi train crash, one of Greece’s worst-ever rail disasters. Passengers noted that many stations along the route were dark and appeared unmanned, heightening the sense of insecurity.

One woman reportedly left the station rather than wait alone in the dark, while another traveler described a separate incident in which passengers on an Athens–Larissa train were let off at the wrong stop without any announcement.

The latest reports highlight ongoing gaps in Greece’s rail infrastructure, including inadequate staffing, coordination failures, and a lack of automated safety systems—issues that remain unresolved despite repeated promises of reform following the Tempi tragedy.