New projects worth 606mln euros for the completion of Greece’s main railway corridor

After the launch of three large-scale railway-related tenders, ERGOSE is preparing the next major auctions, which will complete the puzzle OSE’s new construction projects. However preparations are proceeding at a low pace.

Projects regarding the electrification of the lines are prioritized while construction works in Northern Peloponnese are still in progress. The auctions’ “menu” concerns new projects in Thessaly and Attica.

The first auction, expected to come out in the coming days, will be for the installation of signalling, electrification and ECTS systems on Paleoparsalos – Kalambaka section, 80 km long, promising speeds up to 160 km/h and reduction of the time distance between Athens and Kalampaka to just 3 hours. The cost of the project is 45mln euros and will be financed by the Region of Thessaly with NSRF funds.

The second auction concerns Phase B’ construction works at Athens Central Railway Station, which essentially completes all pending infrastructure projects. Among other things, there will be a flyover on Pelopos St., at the southern entrance of the Station and an underground connection with the Metro Station. The project’s budget is 41mln euros and will be also funded by NSRF.

The third auction concerns the 61 km long section between Larissa and Volos for the installation of signaling, electrification and ETCS systems. Here, the distance will be covered in 30 minutes at speeds of up to 160 km/h. The new design includes the normalization of the old metric line to standard-gauge between the Quarry and Volos. The estimated cost is 66mln euros and will be funded by NSRF.

After the above, projects will be shifted to Northern Peloponnese for the completion of Athens-Patras corridor. More specifically, by 2020 tenders are expected for:

– Superstructure – signallling and electrificatio projects on Rododafni – Bozaitika section (with one or two competitions), including the construction of 8 new stations: Rododafni, Selianitika, Kamares, Psathopirgos, Arachovitika, Aghios Vassilios, Rio and Bozaitika. The estimated cost is 91mln euros. The project will be funded by NSRF.

– The “sweep – project” that will bring the train in the city of Patra. It concerns the section Bozaika – Patra Port and the estimated cost is 240mln euros. At the moment, we are waiting for Patra Municipality’s consent, which, until recently, had maintained a negative stance regarding the impementation of the project.

Two equally important projects are also being prepared for the installation of signalling systems and the electrification of Thessaloniki-Promahonas line, 143 km long and costing 125mln euros and the upgrade of the infrastructure on SKA – Inoi section, with an estimated cost of 100mln euros. These projects will be funded by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and NSRF 2014 – 2020 . These two projects are currently in the pipeline (related studies are carried out at the moment) and their tenders are not expected before 2020.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com

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