Thessaloniki Metro

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Map of the planned Thessaloniki Metro
View from a tunnel into a future station. As of March 2010

The Thessaloniki Metro ( Greek Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης ) is a subway under construction in the northern Greek city ​​of Thessaloniki . The construction work began at the end of 2006. The opening should take place in 2023 at the earliest.

history

In the 1980s, the city began planning a subway on its own initiative, and construction work began in 1986, but was canceled in 1989 due to financial difficulties. In 1992 the Ministry of Construction started a new project. The experience already gained with the construction of metro lines 2 and 3 in Athens showed that it would be uneconomical to complete the preparatory work carried out by the city, and a decision was made to build a new one. The old shell has since been mocked by critics as the Kouvelas Hole (after the name of the mayor at the time). Pumps are still in operation today to keep this underground structure dry from the ingress of water; various plans for use have failed.

The preliminary planning began in 2003, the tenders were issued until August 2005. The construction contracts were awarded in April 2006 and construction work began at the end of 2006. The driverless system from AnsaldoBreda was chosen for the new building , which has already proven itself in the similarly structured system of the Copenhagen Metro (opened in 2002).

In August 2019 it became known that the main contractor for the construction, Ellaktor, considers the opening in 2020 promised by the future operator to be technically not feasible. In addition, it was not possible at the time to give a reliable date for completion.

plant

In the first stage of expansion, the Thessaloniki Metro will consist of a 9.6 km long line, which essentially follows the longitudinal axis of the city from west to south-east in an arc parallel to the main street Nea Egnatia (from the train station in the west to Pylea in the south-east). Two independent tunnels are created (one for each direction of travel).

The line of the first expansion stage will comprise 13 stations or stops:

  • Thessaloniki Railway Station (Νέος σιδηροδρομικός σταθμός)
  • Dimokratias (Dimokratias Square; Δημοκρατίας)
  • Venizelou (Βενιζέλου)
  • Agia Sofia (Αγία Σοφία)
  • Sintrivani (Sintrivani Square; Σιντριβάνι)
  • Panepistimio ( university ; Πανεπιστήμιο)
  • Papafi (Παπάφη)
  • Evklidi (Ευκλείδη)
  • Fleming (Φλέμινγκ)
  • Analipseos (Αναλήψεως)
  • Patrikiou (Πατρικίου)
  • Voulgari (Βούλγαρη)
  • Nea Elvetia (Νέα Ελβετία)
  • Depot Pylea (Αμαξοστάσιο Πυλαίας)

The construction costs are currently estimated at 1.1 billion euros.

Extension to Kalamaria

The construction of the extension to Kalamaria started in June 2014. The line is to be 4.8 km and include five new stations with the Patrikios station as a transfer station to line 1 Thessaloniki - Nea Elvetia station .

  • Nomarchia (Νομαρχία)
  • Calamaria (Καλαμαριά)
  • Aretsou (Αρετσού)
  • Nea Krini (Νέα Κρήνη)
  • Mikra (Μίκρα) / terminus

Other extensions

To the north, an extension towards Stavroupoli can be made. Both expansions would add another 10.8 km to the route network of the first expansion stage and add another ten stations or stops. Other expansion plans show an expansion option to the northwest to Eleftherio-Kordelio (4 km, four more stops) and to Thessaloniki Airport to the south with an additional 7 km and three more stops.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.kathimerini.gr/1054592/article/epikairothta/ellada/ton-aprilio-toy-2023-etoimo-to-metro-8essalonikhs
  2. ↑ Expectations for 2020 Thessaloniki metro launch dashed
  3. ↑ Ανάδοχος: Τεχνικά αδύνατη η λειτουργία του μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης το 2020

Web links

Commons : Thessaloniki Metro  - Collection of images, videos and audio files