Police this week released video showing a man removing some 100 meters of metal cable from the tracks of a suburban rail line at the Zefyri station on the western edge of the greater Athens agglomeration, while adding that the suspect was subsequently arrested.
The scourge of “metal hunters” – primarily interested in copper – repeatedly targeting and vandalizing rail infrastructure in the country has taken on worrying dimensions over recent years. Damages on a northbound line just north of the central city of Larissa is the reason that a local stationmaster ordered a northbound passenger train to bypass the inoperative stretch by using the southbound line. However, he allegedly forgot to order the train back onto the northbound line. The incident, now known as the Tempi rail collision, claimed the life of 57 people in late February 2023.

The suspect was identified as a local 38-year-old living in the low-income district of Zefyri. He was arrested earlier in the week after police officers spotted him again at the station, and in the company of another four men.
The vandalism took place on the afternoon of Jan. 31. A suspect is seen casually using tools to remove the cable, a particularly dangerous endeavor due to the high-voltage lines powering the trains. He also removed signaling and control system cables, which could have led to catastrophic consequences had a train passed the spot and not been detected by station staff.
Greek Police (EL.AS) have over the past year employed a special operation plan to guard rail infrastructure, something judged as imperative after the Tempi collision and other mishaps.