GREECE’s second city of Thessaloniki celebrated the long-awaited opening of its first metro line on November 30. The 9.6km north-south line with 13 stations connects New Railway Station to Nea Elvetia.
An inauguration ceremony was held at the depot in Pylaia in the south of the city, attended by the prime minister of Greece, Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, minister of infrastructure and transport, Mr Christos Staikouras, and deputy minister of infrastructure and Transport, Mr Nikolaos Tachiaos.
The underground line runs in twin tunnels and is fully automated, with trains operating at Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4). Initially trains are operating at headways of 3min 30s, offering an end-to-end journey time of 17 minutes. Fares are just €0.60, in line with the standard price of a journey by public transport in the city, and 313,000 passengers are expected to use the new line every day.
Hitachi Rail Italy manufactured the line’s 18 four-car metro trains. Each 60m-long train can accommodate 465 passengers, including 76 seated. While the trains are fully driverless, attendants are on board for safety reasons.
The Thessaliniki Metro Automatic (Thema) consortium of Milan Transport (ATM) (51%) and French engineering firm Egis (49%) was awarded a €250m, 11-year contract by Elliniko Metro to operate and maintain the new line in October 2023.
The trains are serviced and maintained at a 10-track depot built by Thema. Wider construction on the project was led by Hellenic Metro, in partnership with the Aktor-Webuild-Hitachi consortium.
Extension
Work is underway on a 5km southern extension of the line to Kalamaria, which will add five further stations and is due to enter service in 2025, at which point the fleet will be increased to 33 trains and headways reduced to 90 seconds.
The journey to completion was far from smooth. Initial plans for the line date back to the 1980s, with progress hindered by insufficient funding and the financial crisis in Greece. A turning point came in 2006 when Hellenic Metro, also involved in the development of the Athens metro, spearheaded a revival. Archeological discoveries during construction also added further delays to the project.
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