Piraeus – Thessaloniki railway line
| Piraeus – Thessaloniki railway line | |
|---|---|
 Train on the old route on the Kifera Viaduct, in the background the new bridge
| |
| Route length: | 507 km |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Power system : | 25 kV 50 Hz ~ |
| Top speed: | 160-200 km / h |
| Dual track : | in sections |
The Piraeus – Thessaloniki railway is the 507 km long main line of the Greek railway network and connects the two largest cities in the country, Athens and Thessaloniki . The line is also the only rail link between the Greek capital and the European rail network.
history
Considerations for the connection had existed since 1883. In 1894, with the opening of the Thessaloniki – Bitola ( Monastir ) railway , the northernmost section of today's line between Thessaloniki and Platy went into operation, at that time still on the territory of the Ottoman Empire . The first section of the route north of Athens was only opened in 1908. In 1916 the line reached Platy and with it the connection to Thessaloniki. The line was laid out as a single track , but has now been expanded to two tracks, with longer sections partially completely re-routed.
Infrastructure
The line is part of the Greek Railways (OSE) network. It begins in Piraeus , the port of Athens, passes through Athens train station (“Larisa train station”) and from there further north. The routes to Athens-Eleftherios Venizelos airport and the Peloponnese branch off in Acharnes .
expansion
As early as 1960, the section north of Athens to Inoi was expanded to double tracks.
Further expansion began in 1997 and was originally supposed to be completed for the 2004 Summer Olympics . This includes continuous double-track operation, electrification and an increase in the top speed to 200 km / h. The route was completely redrawn over larger sections. Numerous train stations and stops were abandoned, individual train stations (including Aiginio, Litochoro and Nei Pori) were completely rebuilt. In total, the new route runs over 4.5 km of bridges and required the construction of 14 tunnels , including the two longest railway tunnels in Greece: the 9 km long Kallidromo Tunnel - also the longest tunnel on the Balkan Peninsula - and the 6,380 m long Othrys Tunnel . Between Tithorea and Lianokladi, the new line runs far away from the existing line, while between Lianokladi and Domokos it follows its course.
The last single-track section, 21 km between Aggeie and Domokos, should be opened in February 2019. Previously, on February 2, 2018, the section Thitorea - Lianokladi . and on January 7, 2019 the Lianokladi – Aggeie section went into operation.
The cost of the modernization is around 1.8 billion euros .
business
Electricity has been used between Piraeus and Thessaloniki since May 20, 2019. The travel time between Athens and Thessaloniki is four hours on the fastest trains. Operations began with five daily train pairs and one - significantly slower - night train pair. However, only 160 km / h is currently driven on the sections designed for a maximum speed of 200 km / h.
There is also an S-Bahn between Piraeus and Chalkis .
In autumn 2018, test drives were carried out with an Italian Pendolino train from the ETR.485 series . On September 8, 2018, a new Greek speed record was set during a demonstration drive at 217 km / h. In the medium term, the Italian State Railways, the parent company of the Greek railway company TrainOSE , are planning to use trains of the ETR.470 series for the Athens - Thessaloniki connection. These trains were previously used in EC traffic between Italy, Switzerland and Germany. To enable use in Greece, they are to be converted from 15 kV 16.7 Hz to 25 kV 50 Hz.
Web links
- Driver's cab ride from Thessaloniki to Larissa
- Driver's cab ride Lianokladi – Domokos – Paleofarsalos
- Driver's cab ride Athens – Thessaloniki
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bitola train station .
- ↑ Les chemins de fer de Grèce . In: Le Journal des Transports of March 24, 1917, pp. 63-65 ( French ).
- ↑ upl: route Thessaloniki-Athens . In: IBSE-Telegram 314 (2017), p. 6.
- ↑ bac: Another new building section opened in Greece . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 3/2019, p. 150.
- ↑ a b upl: Thessaloniki – Athens line . In: IBSE-Telegram 314 (2017), p. 7.
- ↑ bac: Another new building section opened in Greece . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 3/2019, p. 150.
- ↑ bac: Another new building section opened in Greece . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 3/2019, p. 150.
- ↑ New construction lines go into operation . In: railway magazine . No. 6 , 2018, ISSN 0342-1902 , p. 37 .
- ↑ bac: Another new building section opened in Greece . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International 3/2019, p. 150.
- ↑ ERGOSE: Τιθορέα - Δομοκός ( memento of the original from February 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Project Tithorea – Domokos)
- ↑ FSCH: Electrically from Athens to Thessaloniki . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , p. 372.
- ↑ Esordio a 217 km / h per il Frecciargento in Grecia short message on Ferrovie.it. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
- ↑ Nuova vita in Grecia per gli ETR.470 short message on Ferrovie.it. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
