The ambitious plans of TRAINOSE for the new year

The great and ambitious plans of TRAINOSE for 2018 were presented yesterday at a Press Conference by the privatized -by now- company’s CEO, Mr. Filippos Tsalidis. Mr. Tsalidis noted that 2017 has been a milestone for TRAINOSE, as it became a member of FSI Group, which happens to be the 3^rd largest railway “family” in Europe.

The message he sent is that the company will advance based on the know-how, experience and competence of its personnel. He also announced that in 2018, TRAINOSE will recruit 60 new train drivers in order to support and improve the itineraries. At the same time, manpower with scientific, financial expertise, IT knowledge and strategic planning skills will come on board too.

The priorities set by Mr. Tsalidis are the improvement of the existing services and the arrival of new rolling stock, which however has as a prerequisite, the completion of railway infrastructure projects.

According to document from OSE (mother company) in the end of January 2018, Piraeus-Athens section will be released to operation, and an, initially, non-electrified double-track line between Tithorea and Lianokladi, while the fully upgraded, electrified line will be ready by March. In the end of next year, upgrade works in SKA Acharne-Ano Liossia section are also expected to be completed.

TRAINOSE’s CEO characterized the current capacity of the line as “very limited” and he added that the maximum freight routes per day are 3, and have already been covered. June 2018 will be the month that electrification will reach Thessaloniki (with the release of the last section between Lianokladi and Domokos) while, in the end of the year, signalling systems across Athens-Thessaloniki line will also be conluded.

Densification of Suburban Railway’s itineraries in Attica

Mr. Tsalidis spoke about the Suburban Railway in Attica region and commented that despite the fact that all works are under completion within a month, signalling systems are installed only in SKA Acharne-Airport section.

Routes are expected to become more frequent reaching up every 20 minutes, especially after the arrival of 2 additional Desiro trains from Thessaloniki’s Suburban Railway. Mr. Tsalidis said that all issues with the e-ticketing systems have been solved and there will be a full interoperability between TRAINOSE and OASA by June.

Investments

Mr. Tsalidis said that the commitment for 500mio euros in rolling stock procurement over a period of 3-5 years is valid and he announced the arrival of FSI’s CEO in Greece, in the near future.

Regarding the pricing policy, 2017 with the initial implementation of the electronic ticketing system was, once again, a very important year, according to TRAINOSE’s CEO, leaving hints for past administrations.

He characterized the completion of the ongoing infrastructure projects as “critical”, as they will allow the operation of high-speed, modern trains with Wi-Fi and other facilities for the passengers, covering Athens-Thessaloniki distance in just 3 hours and 30 minutes. Answering a question about the advent of Alstom’s Pendolino trains, reaching speeds up to 350 km/h (currently covering Frecciarossa service in the Italian network), Mr. Tsalidis didn’t exclude such scenario.

TRAINOSE’s CEO confirmed that sales are going well and emphasized the importance of COSCO, which he described as “the biggest customer for cooperation at all levels”.

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com

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