Athens Suburban Railway to be connected with 3 major ports of Attica region

Athens Suburban Railway “prepares” its connection with 3 major ports of Attica. According to plans that have been announced, from time to time, ERGOSE will implement the connection of the existing network with the ports of Elefsina, Lavrio and Rafina.

These plans are ambitious, but their funding is the most critical issue in all three 3 projects. With regard to Elefsina, a rehabilitation of an abolished line, extending from Menidi to the port of the town (section of the former railway line Athens – Patras) is intended.

The scope will include the normalization of the line (from metric to standard gauge), electrification and signalling systems’ installation. The projects of the first phase are funded by the Hellenic Petroleum SA (ELPE). However there is no funding so far for Phase B’ projects.

The extension of the line to Lavrio and Rafina is a painful story as there have been several announcements regarding the initiation of the project since 2004. Today we are still at an early stage (i.e. preliminary studies). The difference with the past is that now Attiki Motorway, under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Infrastructure, undertook the completion of studies for both the road and the railway extensions to Lavrio and Rafina. After that stage. more information will become available about the tenders of the extensions of Attiki Motorway (which will include the construction of the railway sections).

The railway extension project to Lavrio is estimated to cost 170m euros, withouth counting in expropriations, for the construction of a new, electrified 19.2 mile-long line with 7 stations and electrification.

Similarly, the extension to Rafina is even further behind. Under the same memorandum, it is expected to reach the port of Rafina as an extension from “El. Venizelos” Airport, with a distance of about 7 km. In this case the scope of the project is still undetermined. This extension is expected to serve the ever-increasing population in the area of Pikermi, Nea Makri and Loutsa while it will relieve the traffic problem observed, especially during the summer months in the port and the surrounding holiday resorts.

The time of implementation of these 3 projects still remains unknown. The extension to Elefsina might be the easiest case, since we are talking about the upgrade of an existing line and stations. The other two, due to their connection to the complex plan of Attiki Motoway’s extensions, are expected to be implemented in 2021, at best.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com