Plans to reopen two inactive railway sections in the Peloponnese are being finalised

Two projects plus a comprehensive study are being advanced by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport through  OSE to activate the railway network of the Peloponnese, which in its largest part, has been inactive for years.

Today the active network in the Peloponnese is the line from Corinth to Rio, the Suburban Patras Agios Vasileios-Kato Achaia and the tourist lines Diakopto – Kalavryta and Katakolo – Ancient Olympia.

Speaking to ypodomes.com, the President and CEO of OSE, Spyros Pateras, notes that the Organization’s target is the re-opening of two important sections in the first phase.

The first is Kato Achaia-Pyrgos, which is in the study maturation phase while the financing of the project is in progress. The aim is to announce the tender in the near future.

The second project concerns the restructuring of the Corinth-Argos-Nafplio section, which is also in progress the finalization of the funding from the PEP Peloponnese as it exists as a bridge project in the NSRF. The key to the project is the approval by the European Commission of the feasibility and viability study of the project. The goal is to receive the green light from the Peloponnese Region in 2023, which will also mean the start of the project’s implementation through its tender.

Both projects concern, in the first phase, the restructuring of the existing metric line in order for it to operate with the features of a suburban and tourist network. The two projects are first at the level of priority for the OSE, as they are part of the wider planning of the Peloponnese, while their studies and financing are ongoing.

Study for the entire network in the Peloponnese

With reference to the wider network of the Peloponnese, as mentioned by Mr. Pateras, it is the subject of a wider study which the Organization is starting and whose design should have a unified and not piecemeal approach in order to have a coordinated development plan.

“So here we are moving forward with a plan where a decision has been made to run the reconstruction projects in the sections Kato Achaia – Pyrgos and Corinth-Argos-Nafplio again and to serve the local communities again, but at the same time we are examining the entire metric network of the Peloponnese making critical decisions for its functional and developmental characteristics”.

There are many parameters that must be taken into account in this project and for this it is planned to hire consultants where, based on the specifications set by the European Commission, they will contribute to the whole process in order to make future decisions for one of the country’s most historic railway networks. All relevant criteria will be taken into account such as the character of the network, the interconnection of cultural, tourist and commercial areas, the interconnection with the northern axis of the Peloponnese, the availability of trains and of course the interest of railway companies in their operation, as well as other operational and energy issues.

In the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, a Committee has been created for this purpose under the General Secretary of Transport, Yiannis Xifaras. Its purpose is to promote the process that will lead after many years to the revival of the network.