17 big rail projects in the pipeline aiming at reviving Greek Railway

ERGOSE will complete 2022 with six new contracts, six tenders for new projects in progress, as well as tenders for the recruitment of consultants. The year for the railway company of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is one of the best it has experienced in the last several years as it was also able to become independent from the OSE with a recently filed law.

The launch of the six tenders started in 2021 and this year was the year that one by one the projects are headed towards contracting. First in the series of signatures was the Thessaloniki-Eidomeni signaling project with the contractor AVAX-ALSTOM on March 11. This was followed by the electrification project in the Larissa-Volos section with the contractor INTRAKAT on May 4.

The third project was the electrification project in the Kiato-Aigio section with the contractor TERNA-MYTILINEOS on July 6 and the fourth the project of the B`phase upgrade of the Athens Central Station on July 12 with the contractor INTRAKAT- SIDIRODROMIKA ERGA

The last two projects are expected to be signed in the coming weeks and close the cycle of these railway projects. One is the Palaiofarsalos-Kalambaka electrification project with AVAX as contractor. The most important project of these six and the biggest in the budget (about 180 million euros) is the project of completing the new double railway line Aigio-Rio which will bring the modern train to the door of Patras.

It is a turnkey project, as it includes the construction of the lines (structure), signalling, electrification, ETCS, stations. The contractor is the TERNA-MYTILINEOS scheme.

The six tenders for the new major projects

At the beginning of the year, ERGOSE announced, based on the planning of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, a new generation of railway projects. The very interesting thing about these projects is that 4 out of 6 are new railway lines, i.e. an extension of our national network. This for the railway chronicles of the country is something particularly rare.

The six projects concern the connection of the ports of Rafina, Lavrio, Patras, Thessaloniki and the Thessaloniki-Xanthi and Alexandroupoli-Ormenio lines. More detail:

1. CONSTRUCTION OF NEW RAILWAY LINE THESSALONIKI – TOXOTES amounting to 1.68 billion euros (2.09 billion euros including VAT). 3 schemes are participating: AKTOR-MYTILINEOS, GEK TERNA-INDRAKAT and AVAX-ALSTOM.

2. UPGRADING THE EXISTING ROAD BY DOUBLE AND INSTALLATION OF SIGNALING-ETCS AND ELECTRIFICATION OF THE RAILWAY LINE IN THE ALEXANDROUPOLI-ORMENIO SECTION amounting to 1.07 billion euros (1.33 billion euros including VAT). 3 schemes are participating: AKTOR-MYTILINEOS, GEK TERNA-INDRAKAT and AVAX-ALSTOM.

3. CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW SUBURBAN RAILWAY LINE TO CONNECT RAFINA AND THE PORT OF RAFINA WITH THE EXISTING RAILWAY NETWORK amounting to 309 million euros (383.16 million euros including VAT). 3 schemes are participating: AKTOR-MYTILINEOS, GEK TERNA-INDRAKAT and AVAX-ALSTOM.

4. COMPLETION OF THE NEW DOUBLE RAILWAY LINE KIATO – PATRAS IN THE SECTION RIO – NEOS LIMENAS PATRAS amounting to 477 million euros (591.48 million euros including VAT). 3 schemes are participating: AKTOR-MYTILINEOS, GEK TERNA-INDRAKAT and AVAX-ALSTOM

5. CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW SUBURBAN RAILWAY LINE IN THE SECTION FROM KOROPIO JUNCTION TO LAURIO AND THE PORT OF LAURIO in the amount of 391 million euros (484.84 million euros including VAT). 3 schemes are participating: AKTOR-MYTILINEOS, GEK TERNA-INDRAKAT and AVAX-ALSTOM.

6. RAILWAY CONNECTION OF THE 6TH PIER PORT OF THESSALONIKI & CONSTRUCTION OF THE WEST THESSALONIKI SUBURB of 53.5 million euros (66.34 million euros including VAT). 4 schemes are participating: GEK TERNA, AVAX-ALSTOM, INTRAKAT, AKTOR-MYTILINEOS.

Three of the six projects connect important ports of the country to the network. Both Rafina and Lavrio are important ports for coastal ferry routes to the Aegean islands, while at the same time they also serve areas of the growing population areas of Lavreotiki and Eastern Attica. The two new lines will serve suburban routes while there is commercial interest in the case of the port of Lavrio.

The major projects that are already being constructed

In 2022 we didn’t have any major project delivery, with some chances of that changing in the next two months that wraps up the year. The project for the new Gallikos River railway bridges is nearing completion and will be the first of the long-under-construction projects to be completed. The contractor is SIDIRODROMIKA ERGA ATE.

The largest under construction (as of 2017), is the Psathopyrgos-Rio infrastructure project with GD Infrastructure as contractor. According to the updated timetable, it will be completed in 2023. The project to restore the signaling on the Athens-Thessaloniki-Promahonas axis is in progress with the contractor TOMI-ALSTOM. The project is also in its final stage.

The Sepolia Railway Tunnel is also under construction with the contractor INTRAKAT-RAILWAY WORKS scheme which currently lasts until the end of 2023 but is certain to be extended.

Also an important project is the normalization-electrification of the Isthmos-Loutraki railway line. The project has been undertaken by the XANTHAKIS-MYTILINEOS scheme. The updated schedule puts completion in early April 2023.