New rail projects amounting to 1.0 billion euros planned in northern Greece

A number of crucial rail projects that will change the transport map in northern Greece are coming into the implementation phase as ERGOSE rapidly proceeds with works to upgrade 370 km of railway tracks. Based on ERGOSE’s planning, these will allow Greece to take advantage of European rail networks, creating a great opportunity for economic growth and making northern Greece and its ports a transport hub that links Asia, the Balkans and Europe in the years to come.

ERGOSE CEO Christos Paleos, talking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Sunday, commented that the completion of these project “meets the goal if improving and expanding the main rail network with improvements in safety, an increase in the railway’s reliability and attracting more transport jobs as its key criteria.

“They are works of vital important that change the landscape of passenger and goods transport in our country and provide the required developmental boost to both the economy and local communities,” he added.

The first crucial project is the new line from Nea Karvali to Toxotes, which has secured funding from the Connecting Europe Fund 2021-2027, which will include stations and a 5.3 km line from Nea Karvali to Kavala’s new container port.

This is considered important as it will contribute to the completion of the Baltic, Black, Aegean Seas (BBA) European Corridor and lies within the boundaries of the Three Seas Initiative (Baltic-Black-Adriatic).

The second major rail project concerns improvements to the Alexandroupolis-Ormenio line with a budget of 700 million euros, where selection of the contractor is due to be completed in 2025 and which has also been approved for CEF funding. Its completion will improve border connections with Turkiye and Bulgaria and boost passenger and cargo transport to Eastern Europe, linking the ports of northern Greece with those of the Danube and Burgas in the Black Sea.

In addition to cross-border and regional rail links, ERGOSE is also speeding up construction of Thessaloniki’s Western Suburban Rail Network and the rail link with the 6th pier of Thessaloniki port. This has a budget ot 53.4 million euros and is also receiving Community transport funding.

Apart from these new expansions, ERGOSE is carrying out a series of works throughout Greece’s rail network, which have been contracted for 438.5 billion euros and upgrade more than a third of the total length of the rail network. They include an upgrade on the line to Idomeni that could allow the resumption of international itineraries, estimated to be complete in 2026, a new central station in the capital linked to the metro system, taking the Sepolia rail line underground, and the extension of the rail link to Patra, with trains expected to reach Rio, Patra in 2026.