Tests show asbestos in train carriages
Tests conducted on the safety of trains used by Greece’s rail authorities on its Balkan routes found the existence of the carcinogenic substance asbestos on board the carriages, confirming earlier reports by Kathimerini. Playing down the incident, Transport Minister Michalis Liapis said that scientists from the Dimokritos research center found that passengers and employees working on the trains are completely safe. Tests show that there no traces of asbestos in the air inside the trains, the minister said. Tests were only conducted on the carriages’ internal areas. Sources recently told Kathimerini that the Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) purchased 21 carriages from the French railway authority which contained asbestos and were linked to cancers developed by some of its employees. The tests, whose results were released yesterday, showed that traces of asbestos were found on the veneer of the carriages’ internal metal
