On 19/10/2011 14:44, Theo Markettos wrote:

After making the above list, it's struck me how much was achieved despite
the mismanagement that pervades many projects (eg spend 5 years renewing a
section of metre gauge track, and then close it a few months after it
opened).

THeo

One common theme on these projects was a horrible mismanagement.
As far as I know, NONE of the projects managed by ERGOSE (the project
management part of OSE group) was delivered on time and inside the
allocated budget.

The run up to Athens Olympics in 2004 was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to
rebuild the Greek rail network - and they blew it.

Lots of delays, legal wrangles, etc. conspired so that when the Olympic
games passed (and the funding suddently stopped), nearly nothing has
finished beyond Athens Metro two new lines (even these, in the rush to
reach Athens airport, skipped two stations that had to be built later,
closing again the line for nearly a year).

One major problem is that the legal system is so hopelessly plugged and
slow (at the moment, there are nearly half a million cases to be
resolved at the courts), and even after a project starts anybody can
stall it using legal means (adding to delays and extra costs).

Add to that that the managers had opened too many projects in parallel
instead of focusing in the critical Athens-Thessaloniki mainline, and
you start getting the idea (I hope)

N.F.