Athens Metro: planning for new extensions towards the Southern and Western suburbs is underway

The order of the extensions towards Ilion, Glyfada, Kallithea, Maroussi and Petroupoli that will be materialized by Attiko Metro was analyzed from the podium of the 5th ITC 2022 Infrastructure-Transport Conference, by the CEO of Attiko Metro, Nikos Kouretas. As he said, the first extension that we will see being implemented is the north-western extension of line 2 to Ilion with 3 new stations.

These are: Palatiani, Ilion and Agios Nikolaos. The expansion will cost 350 million euros and will be financed by the NSRF 2021-207 and it will be able to transfer 55,000 passengers daily.

The second extension, which is also related to the investment of Elliniko, is the southern extension of line 2 of the Metro to Glyfada. It will include 3 new stations with a terminal in the area of the church of Agios Konstantinos in Glyfada.

The third extension that is being studied is the new branch of line 1 from Thiseio to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center via Kallithea, with a total of 4 stations and a terminal at KPSIN.

Regarding the extensions of line 4, Mr. Kouretas stated that the first extension from Goudi to Maroussi is being studied. In this extension the geological and geotechnical researches have been completed and the rest of the studies will proceed soon. This extension will reach the National Road up till Lykovrisi and will have at least 11 stations. The cost of this expansion is estimated at about 1.3 billion euros.

At the same time, the extension of line 4 from Alsos Veikou to Petroupoli is being studied. This line will pass through densely populated areas such as Pefkakia (where it will be connected to line 1) and from New Philadelphia and Agios Anargyros. This is a significant extension that will complete the connection of the western suburbs with the Athens Metro network.

Also very important news is that a new station is to be added on line 3 between Eleonas and Kerameikos stations. Due to technical issues, the solution to connect the station to the line with an underground moving sidewalk / corridor (such as the one at the airport) to connect the Agricultural University of Athens has been considered.

Mr Kouretas placed the opening of line 3 at the end of the summer from Nikaia to Dimotiko Theatro in Piraeus. “Combined transport will become a reality, we will connect the main port of the capital with its central airport” he added.

He also noted that line 4 will be constructed through BIM technology, the trains will be automatic and without a driver, while the trains in Thessaloniki will be 94% from recycled materials. Finally, he noted that BIM helps control the construction and costs and that in line 4 through the project, 2,000 additional trees will be added.