Athens Metro: the extension of the new Line 4 to Kifissias Avenue is coming up next

Undoubtedly, the biggest news of last week were the “release” of the tender for line 4 of the Athens Metro. Aktor and Avax withdrew their appeals, opening the door to the next phase of the bidding process which is the opening of the financial bids. In fact, as it has already been leaked, it is a matter of days and it is aimed the contract to have been signed in the first quarter of 2021.

Since we have no other recourse to the pre-contractual procedure, the front of line 4 is clearly open. A month ago we wrote on ypodomes.com that the confinement of the competition “encloses” the next extensions of the Athens Metro network. The same power, the same dynamic applies to the reverse situation. That is, the completion of the tender for Line 4, clearly opens the way for the next extensions of the Metro and this should be done in a coordinated manner swiftly.

A “lost decade”

The crux of the matter is how this is planned to happen. The “lost decade” brought a crowd of works that are blocked, did not “walk”, were too late or were postponed. But this, as in all things in nature, causes the blocking of the next generation of works as a chain reaction.

Today we are focusing on the Metro and given the new situation that is taking shape, it is a great opportunity for the implementation process of the next major projects to proceed. Noone can dispute that after 20 years of waiting, the time has come for the 2nd phase of Line 4, which is none other than the coverage of Kifissias Avenue. The most important axis that connects the center with the northern suburbs, although it was a target of Attiko Metro and all the governments that passed through the country since 2000 when lines 2 and 3 were opened, remained in the background.

Next stop: Extension to the north

Now it is clear that the extension to the north should be the next big priority in Athens. This extension, apart from the coverage of Kifissias Avenue until its connection with the Attiki Odos, continues north-west and through Maroussi and Pefki, reaches Lykovrisi and ends at the National Road.

It is a much-needed addition for the further decongestion of the city’s roads, since added to the obvious value of creating new stations along Kifissia Avenue, ending at Lykovrisi, it creates a new traffic junction in Kifissos. It will be the first Metro station to be so close to the National Road, creating the conditions for the first time for a decongestion of this axis.

Interconnection with Katehaki Metro Station

This extension also serves the interconnection of line 4 at Katehaki station with line 3 (which has been rightly said to be an error that was not added in the first phase of the project), at Kifissia station with the Suburban Railway (in a very basic junction of the capital) and at Maroussi station with line 1, achieving the operation of a single transport network in the wider area of the northern suburbs.

This extension has 11 stations (Katehaki, Faros, Filothei, Sidera, Olympic Stadium, Paradisos, OTE, Maroussi, Pefki, Lykovrysi, National Road) and a length of 14 km. Its cost is estimated at about 1.1 billion euros.