Public works are changing Greece’s transportation map

Τhe tender for the Suburban Railway West Attica extension will be announced at the beginning of November, as was announced by the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for infrastructure, Giorgos Karagiannis, speaking at Olympia Forum III. The project is expected to give a significant boost to traffic decongestion and the schedule for the most central interventions that are maturing in Greece. The road safety projects that are starting in Greece amount to approximately 700 million euros.

Suburban Railway

The Suburban Railway of Western Attica concerns the extension to Elefsina, Aspropyrgos, Megara and the surrounding areas with 7 new stations and a budget of 130 million euros, said the deputy minister. He reminded that “the tenders for the Suburban extensions in Rafina and Lavrio are already underway and we expect to have a temporary contractor in the first quarter of 2023″.

To the West of Athens will be the next Metro project to be announced, and the tender for the extension of Line 2 to Ilion” will begin by the end of the year.

At the same time, as Mr. Karagiannis noted that the construction sites for Line 4 of the Metro have been set up and are working, while the extensions west to Menidi and south to Glyfada and the Stavros Niarchos Culture Center are being studied.

Attica road works

Mr. Karagiannis said that in the next period the contract for the extension of Kymi Avenue will be signed and construction sites will be set up.

At the same time, “planning is progressing for the extensions of the Attica Highway, for the Western Peripheral of Ymittos that will connect it to Vouliagmeni and the conversion of Vouliagmeni Avenue to free flow as well as the extension to Rafina and Lavrio” as Mr. Karagiannis mentioned. If all these projects are not completed by 2030, then traffic issues in the Attica basin will worsen.

The Thessaloniki FlyOver

Mr. Karagiannis made special reference to the works in Thessaloniki. As he said, among other things, the Thessaloniki Flyover is starting work, the first road PPP in the country, which will significantly upgrade the traffic conditions in the city.

Regarding the Thessaloniki metro, Mr. Karagiannis assured that , at the end of 2023 the Thessaloniki Metro will be completed.

The plan is completed by the road connection of the port which is already being built and the railway connection, the tender for which this project is under steam, as well as the Western Thessaloniki Suburban Railway will have a temporary contractor in the first quarter of 2023.

Major highways

Regarding the motorway projects, Mr. Karagiannis said that at the end of 2024, the section Kato Achaia – Pyrgos of the Patras-Pyrgos line will be handed over to traffic , while the Patras – Kato Achaia section will be delivered six months later completing the entire highway.

Works are also “running” on the E65 highway, as the Northern Section has started, the Xyniada – Trikala section has been given to traffic and in the first quarter of 2023 the section up to the Kalambaka bypass  will be delivered, while in the Southern section 14 kilometers have already been delivered and by the end of 2023 it will be completed.

Regarding the Northern Crete Road Axis, Mr. Karagiannis reminded that “the construction works will already start for the eastern part in the next period and for the PPP part we have a temporary contractor, while for the large project of the Concession, Chania – Heraklion, in November we enter the second phase of the competition”.

Railway works

The Deputy Minister praised the role of the railway in both freight and passenger transport, which had lagged for too many reasons. Now 4.5 billion euros have allocated for its improvement.

All the railway projects that are changing the Greek transportation map, such as the Thessaloniki – Toxotes and Alexandroupolis – Ormenio segments, will have contractors at the beginning of next year.