A multi-level railway section emerges between the center of Athens and the Western Suburbs

The major railway project for Sepolia Railway Tunnel is due to begin in Autumn and is expected to be the second largest in terms of budget (150mln euros) for the period up to 2022. Just a few days ago, according to ypodomes.com report, ERGOSE declared INTRAKAT as the temporary contractor, thus launching the pre-contractual period. This means that the contract will be now prepared and sent to the Court of Auditors and the Greek Parliament to be ratified in order to be signed.

This process should take approximately 4-6 months, so it is estimated that signatures will be completed in the Autumn allowing the project to proceed to the construction stage. It is noted that the duration of the project is 4 years and it is originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022.

The new Sepolia Tunnel will have quadraple, fully electrified tracks and will be stretching from the area of “3 Bridges” (after Aghii Anargyri Tunnel), right on the northwestern borders of Athens municipality, ending, with a gradual elevation, at Athens Central Railway Station. The new lines will be offering increased capacity, serving multiple routes both on suburban and intercity itineraries.

Railway infrastructure in Athens is changing

With the completion and operation of Sepolia Tunnel, the entire section from Athens to SKA (Menidi) will have a quadraple railway corridor, fully unlevelled, improving traffic conditions above the ground substuntially as trains, vehicles and pedestrians will no longer be in direct contact. Another important factor is the significant reduction of the noise pollution from the trains, either because of the undergrounded sections or because of the noise barriers, meaning that residents near the tracks will be receiving much less nuisance compared to the past.

Additionally, many more passenger and freight trains will be introduced from Athens with beneficial effects on the commercial performance of fixed rail transports and the revenues of OSE, which manages the infrastructure.

With regard to Athens-Piraeus section, there are two major projects (which do not affect passenger or freight transport) but will ensure even better security. The first project concerns the undergrounding of Athens Central Railway Station-Rouf section, about 2 km long, which also includes the construction of a new underground Suburban Railway Station near Kerameikos (and will be connected to the existing Metro Station). Relevant project studies have been conducted by OSE.

The second project concerns the complete unlevelling and signaling systems’ installation between Athens and Piraeus. Today this section is fully electrified and can adequately serve both suburban and intercity trainns, however there are still level crossings in the area of ​​Lefka, Rentis and Tavros.

These two last projects have not a definite schedule at the moment but are expected to concern us in the future.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com

Follow Nikos Karagiannis on Twitter