Two new stations in Athens Suburban Railway network – More major projects to commence soon

Two new stations are planned to be added in Athens Suburban Railway network according to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. Based on an update made yesterday during the first official electrified train journey from Athens to Thessaloniki, these will be: Kryoneri, serving Athens-Chalkida line and Gerakas on the line towards Athens International Airport.

For Kryoneri station, the study has been completed while the project’s auction is being prepared with 1m euros. Its completion is estimated within a time frame of 18 months. Regarding Gerakas, although it was originally planned to be built in 2004, the project was forgotten. The construction of the station is considered to be easy as the tracks can be shifted without the need to suspend train traffic.

In addition, there is provision for more major upgrade projects in the Suburban Railway network that will also have a positive effect on intercity services. The most important of all is the completion of Athens Central Railway Station, a project which is expected to start in the Summer with a “sweep” contract of 80m euros. It includes the completion of the construction of the remaining platforms, the underground connection of the Railway Station to the Metro and additional, pending works. The aforemnetioned projects are set to be completed in36 months.

At the same time, the project for the Sepolia Underground Railway Tunnel is underway. It concerns the undergrounding of the railway line on Athens Central R.S. – 3 Bridges Interchange section, with a quadraple-track tunnel, offering adequate capacity for both suburban and intercity trains. Both projects (i.e. Athens Central Railway Station and Sepolia Tunnel) are expected to be completed almost simultaneously, around 2023.

As noted by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Christos Spirtzis, a wide restructuring of urban services for Metro and buses has been requested. For Attica region, the Minister characterized Sepolia Tunnel as a particularly important project, as well as a new tunnel with a length of 800 m. in Menidi, aiming to end the isolation of the area from the rest of Athens while it will be serving freight transport, and will complete projects concerning 3 “blind” lines since 2001.

The relevant study has been completed while the application for the project’s financing is also ready.

For the undergrounding of the railway line in Sepolia area, he commented that atechnical solution has been found for the uninhinited operation of the existing, double-track line throughout the project, as the design so far was the operation of a single-track line, which would cause significant delays.

 

Nikos Karagiannis-ypodomes.com

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