Railway section in central Athens to be undergrounded for 109mn euros  

A railway project that emerged out of the blue and, quite rapidly, is set for bids this Summer, is the undergrounding of the railway section with a quad electrified line, between Athens Central Railway Station and the “Three Bridges”, right at the borderline of Athens’ municipal district with its neighboring municipalities to the West.  

As Mr. Thanos Vourdas, ERGOSE’s CEO told at Ypodomes.com, the undergrounding is a “mature” project with finalized studies and approved environmental terms, but till very recently hadn’t secured the necessary funds for its implementation, funds that apparently have now been found.  

Mr. Vourdas’ recent visit in Brussels, on February 7^th, proved to be fruitful as he came a back with a successful proposal regarding the project’s funding in the framework of its inclusion in “Connecting Europe Facility” program.

The project will be tendered in June 2017 for 109mn euros. The project’s final funding approval is considered to be certain due to its maturity and usefulness. A major benefit of the undergrounding would be the reversal of Sepolia area’s bisection and the restoration of the currenty ran down surroundings of the tracks with new bicycle paths and parks.

The total length of the undergrounded section will be 2.36 km, from which 1.44 km will be fully underground whereas the rest will be the line’s ascendance to the surface. “It is a project that must be carried out with surgical precision as below the surface, the tunnel passes really close from the main water pipe and just a few meters above Metro Line 2 tunnel. This is definitely a project that will upgrade the image of the area. Trains will be moving faster and safer and level crossings’ operation will stop.”

A second undergrounding is examined

OSE has also started project studies for the undergrounding of the railway section between Athens Central and Rouf railway stations. The undergrounding from Petrou Ralli Av. to Lenorman Av., essentially completes the integrated undegrounding proposal that had been submitted for Athens’ very central railway lines. The early plans suggest the establishment of a new, underground railway station with the name “Kerameikos”, providing a direct connection with the homonymous, existing Metro Line 3 Station.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com

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