Rail employee, who was in post for only four days before the accident, addressed court for seven hours over disaster in which 57 people died

Greece’s prime minister has apologised for the worst rail accident in the country’s history as a station master facing multiple charges including involuntary manslaughter was remanded in custody after giving testimony in court.

Amid mounting protests prompted by the disaster, magistrates unanimously agreed that the 59-year-old should be detained pending trial. The employee, described by the Greek media as being in post for only four days before Tuesday’s tragedy, has not been named publicly. He appeared in court in Larissa, the city where the doomed locomotive last stopped before ramming, head-on and at high speed, into a freight train using the same track.

Government says rail projects beset by ‘chronic public sector ills’, as death toll from crash rises to 57

Thousands of Greeks have taken to the streets for a second day of protests as anger mounts over the loss of life in Tuesday night’s head-on train crash.

Braving torrential rain and thunder, demonstrators marched from the office headquarters of Hellenic Train in Athens to the Greek parliament, chanting “this crime will not be forgotten”.