9 large-scale road and railway projects in Central Greece now in tender phase

The tender announcements for road and railway projects in Thessaly are now in their final stages. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, through a series of decisions, has announced its intention to fund projects worth €1.35 billion.

These projects will be constructed as decided by the Special Public Works Service for Construction and Maintenance of Transport Infrastructure, which has the expertise in executing infrastructure restoration projects following natural disasters.

These projects aim to restore the extensive damage caused to the road and rail networks of Central Greece by the storms Daniel and Elias.

The next step is to move forward with the tender announcements, which total nine in number—five for road projects and four for railway projects.

Railway projects

More specifically, the projects to be put up for tender are as follows:

• Restoration of the Athens–Thessaloniki double railway line, from the exit of Domokos Station (KM 288+600) to the entrance of Krannona Station (KM 328+840), following the storms “Daniel” and “Elias,” with a budget of €173,600,000 (including VAT).
•  Restoration of the single railway line from Palaiofarsalos to Kalambaka in identified sections of the line, following the storms “Daniel” and “Elias,” with a budget of €57,660,000 (including VAT).
• Restoration of the single railway line from Larissa to Volos following the storms “Daniel” and “Elias,” with a budget of €181,660,000 (including VAT).
• Restoration works on the Volos–Milies railway line, from Ano Lechonia Station (KM 12+500) to Milies Station (KM 28+200), following the storms “Daniel” and “Elias,” with a budget of €1,860,000 (including VAT).
• Restoration of the Signaling, ETCS L1, Remote Control, and Electrification systems on the section of the double railway line from Palaiofarsalos Station (KM 296+245) to Krannonas Station (KM 336+330), which was damaged by the storm “Daniel,” with a budget of €37,200,000 (including VAT).

To implement the necessary works and restore issues in the railway network in the Thessaly region, the tasks were grouped based on geographic and geomorphological criteria. Additionally, the selected sections share common technical and hydrological characteristics, enabling a more effective approach to addressing the challenges.

Road projects

The second category includes road works for which four contracts have been established, focusing on urgent repair projects to restore infrastructure damage caused by the severe weather events “Daniel” and “Elias.”

The cost of the projects is almost 900 million euros, specifically 899.7 million euros, including VAT. According to information from ypodomes.com, these have been allocated across four different areas, which are as follows:

• Restoration projects in the municipalities of Zagora – Mouresi, South Pelion, Volos, and Riga Feraios, with a budget of 278.2 million euros.
• Restoration projects in the municipalities of Argithea, Lake Plastira, Meteora, and Pyli, with a budget of 267.5 million euros.
• Restoration projects in the municipalities of Tempi, Tyrnavos, Elassona, Agia, Larissa, Farkadona, Kileler, Palamas, Mouzaki, Trikala, and Karditsa, with a budget of 184 million euros.
• Restoration projects in the municipalities of Istiaia, Mantoudi, Domokos, Lamia, Almyros, Farsala, and Sofades, with a budget of 170 million euros.

Funding and Implementation

The Recovery Fund resources amount to 600 million euros, divided into 420 million euros for road projects and another 180 million euros for railway projects. Public expenditure amounts to 396.6 million euros and 226.86 million euros, respectively, with two more decisions expected to be issued.

Invitations to technical companies for conducting fast-track tenders are expected to be sent out shortly. The ministry’s goal is to expedite these projects, as the urgent need for the full reactivation of the Athens-Thessaloniki main artery is highlighted by market stakeholders for the transportation of goods.

The implementation of the road and railway projects was deemed necessary to be managed by the Special Public Works Service for the Construction and Maintenance of Transport Infrastructure. According to the decision, there is a direct correlation between the damages to the Railway Network and those to the Road Network, as both resulted from the same extreme weather events and appeared simultaneously.

At the same time, it is necessary to complete restoration work concurrently and/or in parallel in areas of the Railway Network that are inextricably linked to localized or sequential failures in the Road Network.

Simultaneously, close monitoring of the progress and timeline of the urgent projects is deemed necessary through a joint ministry body with prior experience in executing restoration projects.

The same decision clarifies that OSE, as a supervised body of the Ministry, has completed the preparatory procedures required for tendering the aforementioned projects. This includes drafting the Technical Descriptions of the planned works, their execution timelines, tender budgets, and the Special Specifications (E.S.Y.) documents. Additionally, OSE has conducted temporary restoration work on specific sections of the lines where traffic was interrupted to ensure the safe passage of trains.

For more details and the complete article in Greek, click here