Greece - General Information

From EGTRE
Revision as of 20:14, 5 May 2014 by Paul Steane (talk | contribs) (→‎Downloadable Timetable: Athens - Ano Liosia service details added)
Jump to navigationJump to search

Country Name

Greece (Hellas)

National Railway System

All railway infrastructure in Greece is owned and maintained by OSE (Organismos Sidirodromon Ellados, or Ο.Σ.Ε., Οργανισμός Σιδηροδρόμων Ελλάδος, in Greek). Train services are operated by Trainose/ΤραινΟΣΕ. Suburban traffic in Attika (Piraeus - Athens - SKA - Halkida and Athens Airport - SKA - Kiato) and Makedonia (Thessaloniki – Domokos) is operated under the brand name Proastiakos (Suburban Railway).

Official Website

Trainose / ΤραινΟΣΕ

Language

Greek. Greek script is quite different from Roman and there is no standard system of transcription. In many of the places served by the railway system, away from the main tourist areas, only Greek is spoken.

Currency

Euro

UIC code

numeric 73; alpha GR

Timetable

Journey Planner

http://tickets.trainose.gr/dromologia/, click on the en text in the top right corner to switch to English language.

Downloadable Timetable

PDF files are available as links from the following pages:-

  • Main Line Trains and click on "Δρομολόγια υπεραστικού δικτύου" under "Attached Files". Only in Greek.
  • Athens Suburban Railway (Athens Airport - SKA - Kiato train services, and Kiato - Patra bus connections).
  • Halkida - Athens (Halkida - SKA - Athens - Piraeus train services).
  • Athens - Ano Liosia (Athens - Ano Liosia train services). Only in Greek.

Printed Timetable

None.

Engineering Information

The main TrainOSE webpage, under Latest News, often gives details of engineering work but the information is only in Greek.

Maps

Printed Maps

  • European Railway Atlas: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece by M.G. Ball (1991) (ISBN 0-7110-2087-6)
  • European Railway Atlas by M.G. Ball (2008 onwards)
  • Quail Map Co published a railway map of Greece, with extensive supplementary information, but this is currently out of print.

Web-based Maps

Ticketing

OSE and Proastiakos have entirely separate ticketing.

Trains can be very crowded so reservations are desirable and sometimes essential. Reserved seats are not marked as such.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Authority

OSE (Organismos Sidirodromon Ellados) / Ο.Σ.Ε. (Οργανισμός Σιδηροδρόμων Ελλάδος). ERGOSE manages all railway modernisation projects.

Network Statement

Gauge

Standard. The Peloponnese lines from Piraeus to Patra, Olympia and Kalamata etc were formerly entirely metre gauge. The metre gauge route from Piraeus via Athens to Korinthos, Kiato and Patra has been closed; it has been replaced by a standard gauge route as far as Kiato, construction work on the standard gauge continuation from Kiato to Patra has started but is significantly delayed. The line from Diakopto to Kalavryta is 750 mm gauge.

Electrification

25 kV 50 Hz.

Rule of the road

Right.

Distances

The Network Statement Annexes above give distances for each station.

Other Railways

None.

Tourist Lines

  • Diakopto – Kalavryta (22 km long, part rack-fitted) (750 mm gauge)
  • Pelion Railway Ano Lehonia to Milies (600 mm gauge)
  • Attica Museum Railway: Keratea to Kalivia (extension to Markopoulo under construction) (metre gauge)
  • Volos – Palaeofarsalos (metre gauge, no regular service)
  • Tempi valley railway: former main line (replaced by a new double track line) along the Tempi river, operated by motor draisines, with no scheduled timetable

Metro

Athens.

Trams

Athens.

Recent and future changes

A Beograd – Skopje – Thessaloniki summer overnight service will restart in June 2014.

From Monday 31/03/2014, passenger services started running between Athens and Ano Liosia via a curve bypassing SKA (Acharnes Railway Center). There are ten train per day in each direction, see timetable.

Train Service Changes in 2012

The Thessaloniki - Edessa - Aminteo - Florina line reopened on 14 October 2012.

A weekly summer-only service was reintroduced between Thessaloniki and Skopje (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) reportedly from 14 July 2012 to 30 September 2012.

Train Service Changes in 2011

All international services from Greece were discontinued from 13 February 2011.

The very bad financial situation in Greece caught up with OSE in December 2010. The following lines were closed to all traffic on 1 January 2011, although a few had already ceased operating by then:

  • Patra - Kalamata
  • Pyrgos - Olympia (since re-opened)
  • Pyrgos - Katakolo (since re-opened)
  • Isthmos - Loutraki (had already ceased)
  • Diakopto - Kalavryta (was operating only irregularly but has since re-opened)
  • Kalonero - Kyparissia
  • Korinthos - Kalamata (was not operating between Tripoli and Zevgolatio)
  • Argos - Nafplio
  • Patra - Rio suburban service (since re-opened)
  • Kalamata - Zevgolatio suburban service
  • Thessaloniki - Edessa - Aminteo - Florina (since re-opened)
  • Aminteo - Kozani
  • Serres - Alexandroupolis - Pithio - Dikaia (since re-opened); trains from Ormenio to Bulgaria had already ceased.
  • Thessaloniki - Idomeni (international services ceased on 13 February 2011)
  • Strimon - Kulata (service ceased from 13 February 2011)
  • Larissa - Volos (local trains) (since re-opened)
  • Palaeofarsalos - Kalambaka (local trains) (since re-opened)

Train Service Changes in 2009

The one train each way between Dikaia and Svilengrad (Bulgaria) was withdrawn in August 2009.

Other Train Service Changes

Train services were withdrawn between Messonissia and Kremenica (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) due to tensions between Greece and FYROM, and are unlikely to resume.

Infrastructure Changes

The main line from Athens to Thessaloniki is in the course of extensive reconstruction, including doubling, realignment and electrification. This work has been under way for many years. Electrification is now complete from Thessaloniki to Domokos. A new line is under construction between Tithorea and Lianokladi, including the 9 km long Kallidromo tunnel. The mountainous section between Lianokladi and Domokos is being realigned, doubled and electrified. A proposed base tunnel was rejected because of geological problems. However, many of these works have been halted because of the financial crisis in Greece.

Other recent electrification includes the line to Athens Airport. An extension is planned extension from Koropi towards Lavrio. The airport line joins the metro at Plakentias and changes there from 25 kV AC overhead to third rail DC.

Athens - Patras is being rebuilt as a standard gauge line. A new metre gauge curve has been built to connect the new Korinthos station to the old station and the line to Tripoli. The branch to Loutraki has closed and it is not certain if it will be converted to standard gauge.

The former metre gauge line between Palaeofarsalos and Kalambaka has been converted to standard gauge. Parts of the metre gauge line from Palaeofarsalos to Volos, closed to regular traffic on 19 June 1998, may be used by special trains.

Special Notes

Station names are usually shown in Roman script as well as in Greek, but spellings can vary considerably from what may appear in timetables, maps or guide books.

See also