ravelling by train in Greece is set to be a real treat in the next few
years, as millions of dollars are being poured into new tracks, tunnels
and rolling stock.
For decades, state-owned Hellenic Railways (OSE) languished in relative
neglect as investments were made in shipping services to the Greek islands,
propelled by the burgeoning tourism trade. Another factor that has held
back rail development is the difficult terrain across much of the mainland.
Now, with the Olympics just over two years away, the railways are receiving
some overdue attention. Several projects are under way, costing some
$13 billion – half from European Community Support Framework funds.
Ergose,
the construction subsidiary of OSE, is tendering for schemes worth $793
million this year. A major project is an upgraded, electrified rail
link from Patra in the west to Athens and then on to Greece’s second-biggest
city, Thessaloniki, 400 miles to the north. The line, due to open in
2008, will halve the present five-and-a-half-hour journey time between
Athens and Thessaloniki.
Parts of the route have already been upgraded. At other points, particularly
near Thermopylae, 100 miles north of Athens, trains must slow down as
the track winds its way through some spectacularly craggy scenery. Tourists
will be encouraged to discover some of these stunning areas of the mainland
barely known to foreign visitors.
Ergose managing director Christos Tsitouras says: “Our high-speed
network is going to give everyone the opportunity to visit the periphery
of Greece in a fast and convenient way. This did not happen in the past.
The train was considered slow, old-fashioned and noisy. The new railway
routes will change people’s lives in the same way that the Athens
Metro changed the lives of Athenians.”
A
planned regional light railway will stretch from Thebes, 70 miles north
of Athens, to Cape Sounion, 50 miles to the southeast. It will pass
through industrial Eleusis and a line will continue to Corinth.
The drive is on to complete a rail link, budgeted at $76.5 million,
to the new Athens international airport at Spata in time for the Olympics
– and to meet the commitments for the mass transit project made
to the International Olympic Committee. Mr Tsitouris says the long-envisioned
suburban line will be electrified from Rendi, a Piraeus industrial district,
to the airport.
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