How the suburban railway is being extended, where the metro trains enter

The projects for the extension of the Suburban Railway in Western Attica are on track, which will bring Elefsina, Megara, Aspropyrgos and Nea Peramos out of the transport isolation. While Line 4 of the Athens Metro is in the implementation phase, awaiting the sinking of the second metro module in the first half of February, the next pending extension is also the one in the west from Anthoupoli to Ilion.

Today, the leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport will be in Megara, at the construction site of the project to upgrade the existing railway line that will connect Ano Losia with Megara, forming a new branch of the Athens Suburban Railway. Signatures with the contractor METKA (Mytilineou Group) were signed just before the Christmas holidays and the engines are in full swing as the project, with a budget of €132.61 million (including VAT), is funded by the Recovery Fund.

The new suburban line will run along the corridor of the old OSE metric line to the Peloponnese, also connecting major industrial units such as HELPE, Motoroil, Fulgor and Sulphur. This is a project that will give a boost to the movement of residents and workers in important industrial and freight zones of Attica.  The line, 34.6 km long, will start from Ano Losia, pass through Aspropyrgos, Elefsina and end in Megara.

It will stop at: HELPE Aspropyrgos, Aspropyrgos, Elefsina, HELPE Elefsina, Loutropyrgos, Nea Peramos, Megara (SGI), while the option also brings the Old Railway Station of Megara into the frame, with the construction of a branch line, which will be activated with the approval of the environmental conditions for this section.

The connection to the HELPE Aspropyrgos facilities, as well as the possibility of future development of branches connecting to the industrial area of Vamvagia and/or the Elefsina shipyards, provides the possibility of serving freight transport. The works will take 28 months from the date of signature of the contract.

Expansions in Lavrio and Rafina on the horizon in 2034

Two more extensions of the Athens Suburban Railway are in the future plans, but the issue of financing is grounding the plans. Although the connection of the suburban network to the ports of Lavrio and Rafina has already been put out to tender by ERGOSE, the streamlining of the projects by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has postponed the potential implementation date.

In particular, the two projects are within the large €4 billion rail package, but although connecting the train to the country's main ports is of undeniable value, securing European funding is proving to be a difficult exercise. With this in mind, the next two extensions of the Suburban Railway are part of the new OSE's medium-term investment plan, with a horizon until 2034.

The rail link to the port of Lavrio, with a budget of €391 million, is in the five-year strategic plan, along with the much-discussed extension of the Thessaloniki Suburban Railway, also to the west, with an individual budget of €20 million. Currently, this project is also in a single tender with the railway connection of the 6th pier of the PPA, for a total of €53.5 million. The Rafina port connection, with a budget of €310 million, appears to be the last to be terminated, as it is part of the ten-year plan of the country's new single railway operator.

Next stop Ilion

The largest fixed-track project is of course the Athens metro, which is again seeing construction sites. Already the first metro module has started its journey from Katehaki, having dug about 500 meters, in the direction of Evangelismos. Similarly, the assembly of the second metro module in the Veikou Grove is expected to be completed within the first two weeks of February, so that the first test runs can begin. The two TBMs are expected to come together to open the Line 4 tunnel "Also Veikou - Goudi" in 2026.

At the same time, the first new extension of the existing metro network is being prepared. The tender for the extension of Line 2 to Ilion is currently underway. The completion of the environmental licensing of the project will start the next phase of the tender, so that financial bids can be submitted in 2024. The interested parties are: TERNA, Intrakat, Avax-Ghella-Alstom and AKTOR-Mytilineos.

The approximately 4 km of new line is designed to cover several densely populated areas of West Attica. It is estimated that the new section of the Line 2 extension, after Anthoupoli with three stations at Palatiani, Ilion and Agios Nikolaos, will serve at least 67,000 passengers per day.

Future priorities

A priority for the next extension of the capital's network is the connection to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre. It concerns the underground connection of the electric line (Line 1) after the station of Thiseio to Kallithea, 5 km long, with four stations: Chamosternas, Davakis Square, Filaret Hill/Gitzifies and the SNFCC. The cost is estimated at 450 million euros.

The maturation of the project has been started by Hellenic Metro and it is estimated that it will take two years to complete. There is also a next phase of development of this new branch to Paleo Faliro, along Amfithea Avenue.

At the same time, the maturation of the extension of the network to the northern suburbs is at an initial stage. Given that major roads, such as Kifissia Avenue, are currently facing suffocation, the city's congestion is planned to be relieved by extending Line 4, which is currently under construction. Initially, the Orange Line will be connected to Maroussi from Goudi with seven new stations. It will serve the municipalities of Psychiko-Philothei, Halandriou and Maroussi, and then continue on to the National Road. The double project has a total estimated budget of more than 1 billion euros.