Final touches for the upgraded Athens-Thessaloniki railway corridor

Another important step for the modernization of the Greek railway system has been taken as from tomorrow, Fenruary 10th, the new 54 km long Tithorea-Lianokladi section will become available for passenger services.

Passengers traveling to and from Athens, as of tomorrow will be using the upgraded line and will have the opportunity to be the first to experience the passage through the longest railway tunnel in the Balkans, Kallidromo Tunnel, with a length of 9 km. One direction will be in use for the time being.

By the end of March, after the end of the tunnel’s trial period, the second direction will be released to operation allowing trains to reach higher speeds, up to 200 km/h, reducing time distance between Athens and Thessaloniki significantly.

Regarding the progress in the last active “front” of the upgrade project on Athens-Thessaloniki railway corridor, Lianokladi-Domokos section, works are running very well. Following the delivery of Tithorea-Lianokladi, all effort has focused on this section, which according to the latest available information, will be completed by next June.

In this stage, double-track laying has been completed, while the installation of electrification poles and aerial cables has started recently. This last section of 52 km, includes the Great Othrys Tunnel, which is the second longest twin tunnel in Greece (behind Kallidromo), with a length of 6.2 km per traffic direction. Passenger services for the entirety of the upgraded line are expected to commence by Autumn 2018.

With the completion of the electrification works in Polykastro-Idomeni section, also in 2018, international passenger services from Athens and Thessaloniki to the countries of Western Balkans (FYROM, Serbia, etc.) as well as Central and Western Europe, will be revived.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com

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