Thessaloniki Metro to go into full operation at the beginning of 2024

The ATM-EGIS consortium is now the temporary contractor for the maintenance and operation of the Thessaloniki Metro. This was announced by the president of Elliniko Metro, Nikos Tachiaos, speaking to the radio station Praktoreo 104.9fm.

As he noted, “Thessaloniki must get the metro it deserves as soon as possible”. He initially placed the start of operation in the middle of 2024, but in a new post on Facebook, he corrected it saying that the operation is heading for the beginning of 2024.

The Italian-French consortium will be declared the final contractor by the end of June, saying that “we are at the end of this selection as well, of the company that will operate the Thessaloniki metro. Last week, the temporary contractor was asked to submit the supporting documents so that the necessary checks can be carried out in order for the process to proceed to the next stage, which is the declaration of him as the final contractor”.

He noted, however, that we are talking about “a joint venture involving the company ATM, which operates the Milan Metro, and the French group EGIS, with the experience of Metro Service, which operates the Copenhagen Metro, which is the same as our own metro . We are facing a good development and everything will be fine”. He also added that “it was never in the intentions of Attiko Metro to do anything different from what a competitive process would reveal”, excluding the three-year transitional operation by the construction contractor of the project.

As Mr. Tachiaos said, the project “is moving from the phase of individual tests to the combined operation and control to be put into operation in 2024. Now the process of simultaneous operation of all systems begins and more than one train enters the tunnel. This is being done gradually to ensure that all safety requirements are met.”

He also underlined that most of the areas will be freed from the sheets in the next period and the restoration will proceed at street level, while in particular for the Venizelos station he said that it will be completed by the end of November as “everything is progressing at a rapid pace”.

Asked about the extensions to the west of Thessaloniki and Kalamaria, Mr. Tachiaos replied that for the northwest extension, the Thessaloniki Metro Development Study is being completed at a rapid pace, while there is also the tool of the agreement – a framework for network investigations and preliminary works needed. Regarding Kalamaria, he said that all the contracts regarding the delivery of this project have been signed. “We believe that six months after the operation of the main line is a reasonable time that will allow us to integrate it into our network,” he said.