Professor Athanasios Ziliaskopoulos on Saturday announced his withdrawal from the new three-member special committee tasked with investigating the causes of the deadly train accident that occurred late on Tuesday in central Greece.

In his statement, Ziliaskopoulos, a Professor of Optimization of Production & Transportation Systems at the University of Thessaly, cited "a series of statements and reports on behalf of political figures concerning my former position as President and CEO of TrainOSE SA."

"Due to the special gravitas of this committee's work for the whole of Greek society, I would not want my past job to be exploited as an alibi to damage the integrity and impartiality of the committee’s work and conclusions,” he noted.

"I remain at the disposal of the state, to the degree of usefulness allowed by my specialty," he added.

Ziliaskopoulos is replaced by Christos Pirgidis, Professor in railway engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

The committee also includes Vassilios Profillidis, Professor in railway engineering at the Democritus University of Thrace, and it is chaired by Konstantinos Halkias, honorary president of the Legal Council of State.

See also:

Gerapetritis announces members of special committee to investigate Tempi train collision