Dozens of protests have been planned for Saturday, February 28 across Greece commemorating the three years since the train crash in Tempi that left 57 people dead.
Labor unions, student associations and human rights organizations are responding to a nationwide call by the Association of Relatives of Victims Tempi 2023, rallying under the slogan “We Don’t Forget, We Don’t Forgive”. According to the association’s official Facebook page, mobilizations have been announced in hundreds of locations in Greece and in cities worldwide, including a rally at the Greek Embassy in London at noon on Saturday.
The anniversary coincides with widespread strike action. The Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO) has declared a 24-hour strike, grounding ferries nationwide, while Hellenic Train announced the suspension of all intercity rail services on Saturday, February 28.
Memorial Events
Photo: Leonidas Tzekas/Eurokinissi
On Thursday, February 26 at 6 p.m., the Mayor of Kaisariani, Ilias Stamelos, will unveil a monument dedicated to the Tempi victims at the intersection of National Resistance Street and Tempi Victims Avenue, recently renamed in their memory.
Mass Demonstrations Expected
“Tempi was not an accident, but the result of policies that place profit above human life,” the victims’ association said, urging mass participation in this year’s protests.
In Athens, the main rally will begin at noon at Syntagma Square, while a parallel protest is planned in Thessaloniki at the Venizelos Statue.
Rallies have also been announced in Serres, Livadia, Volos, Katerini, Patra, Alexandroupolis, Veria, Grevena, Heraklion, Rethymno, and Chania (Crete), Drama, Kalamata, Kilkis, Sparta, Trikala, Tripoli, Florina, Naoussa, Lamia, Kavala and Arta.
Student Mobilizations
A map of locations where rallies have been planned in Greece for February 28, 2026.
School and university student unions have announced rallies and sit-ins with secondary school students planning two days of mobilizations on February 26 and 27.
The Athens Student Coordinating Committee has called for mass participation in sit-ins and a student rally at the Propylaea of the University of Athens on February 26.
“We have become the voice of the dead. This crime will not be covered up,” students said, placing responsibility on the state, governments, EU railway directives and Hellenic Train.
The Education Ministry responded by denying reports of nationwide school closures, instructing schools to operate normally and, where necessary, to use distance learning via WebEx.
The student mobilizations are part of a broader framework of actions of remembrance and protest for the Tempi tragedy, with the main demand being the attribution of responsibilities and the assurance of safety in transport. However, the Ministry has no plans to suspend classes, it said.
Tempi Video Footage Trial
Photo: Tatiana Bolari/Eurokinissi
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Larissa Single-Member Misdemeanor Court rejected a prosecution request to summon the appellate investigating judge and his secretary as witnesses in the trial over the mishandling of surveillance footage from the Tempi crash.
The case concerns missing and overwritten video files from railway facilities in the aftermath of the disaster, which later proved impossible to recover. The decision sparked strong reactions from victims’ families in court.
The defendants include former executives of OSE and a representative of the private security firm responsible for railway surveillance, facing charges related to document removal, disobedience and moral instigation.
