Greece - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services
Service Suspension
Following the serious collision at Tempi, near Larissa on the Athens – Thessaloniki main line on 28 February 2023, all rail services operated by Hellenic Train in Greece were suspended and replaced by buses.
Many services have now been reinstated with the rest expected by the end of April 2023. Check the Hellenic Train website for updates.
Introduction
This list is based on timetable information available at December 2022, unless otherwise stated; Greek timetables change as and when required. Standard abbreviations are explained in General Information. Days of the week, for trains which run less than daily, are shown in accordance with ISO 8601.
Map references for each route entry are given in parentheses ( ). References prefixed "ERA-E" refer to the European Railway Atlas (All-Europe Edition) by M.G. Ball. References prefixed "ERA-R" refer to the European Railway Atlas (Regional Series - The Balkans) by M.G. Ball. References prefixed "S+W", or in italic, refer to Eisenbahnatlas Griechenland by Schweers + Wall.
Obscure services
Services on the Peloponnese peninsula
Most, if not all, of the metre gauge services on the Peloponnese peninsula were withdrawn during the financial crisis in 2010. However the following routes do currently carry a service; the links contain full details, either on the specified page or via a PDF file.
- Patras Suburban Railway Services run hourly Rio - Patras - Agios Andreas, and with a change of trains hourly (but not in the evenings) Agios Andreas - Kamania with alternate trains extended to Kato Achaia. Note that Rio - Agios Vasileios was suspended from 15 May 2018 for infrastructure works.
- Katakolo - Pyrgos - Olympia Three return trips ①-⑥ between Pyrgos and Olympia, and two ①-⑥ between Pyrgos and Katakolo. This service may be enhanced when cruise ships are docked at Katakolo.
In 2017 TrainOSE were refusing to run enthusiast specials on the metre gauge system due to condition of the infrastructure. Any changes to this policy may appear in the Tourism & Culture section of the Hellenic Trains website.
Tithorea - Lianokladi via old main line
(ERA-E 105A4-B4; ERA-R 228B1-C1; 8D3-11C4) GR23/1
Since the new main line between Tithorea and Lianokladi was opened in about April 2018, a local/tourist service was introduced from 17 July 2018 via the old line, calling at intermediate stations. Train departure from Lianokladi is eccentric: The diesel unit departs from paltform 1 southbound to the Athens main line then reverses and heads north some 1.9km through platform 3 without stopping to the north end of the layout and reverses again taking a line though the PW sigdings, past the depot and onto the branch (which now has no direct connection to the station). The northbound working is the reverse of this.
The following trains are shown in the journey planner as running via the old main line:
| ① ⑥ | 1521 | 06:57 Lianokladi - Athens | |
| 14521 | 08:30 Lianokladi - Tithorea | ||
| 14522 | 09:50 Tithorea - Lianokladi | ||
| ⑤ ⑦ | 1520 | Athens - 22:20 Tithorea - Lianokladi |
Note that trains shown in the journey planner with train numbers prefixed "C" and suffixed "(ΛΕΩΦ)" are operated by buses.
Other sparse services
The following lines have few trains (relative to service levels generally) - fewer than five trains each way on at least three days a week - or do not run each weekday.
| Thessaloniki - Idomeni - Gevgelija (North Macedonia) | Suspended since 21 August 2015. A service was reinstated from 1 June to 1 October 2018 but with the cross-border section by bus. | |
| Strymon – Kulata (Bulgaria) | No (train or bus) service shown in journey planner | |
| Lianokladi - Lamia - Stylida | Three trains mornings only, afternoon services are buses | |
| Ano Lechonia - Milies | The Pelion train | |
| Thessaloniki - Alexandroupolis - Dikaia - Ormenio | ||
| Edessa - Florina | ||
| Diakopto - Kalavryta | Diakopto – Kalavryta rack railway |
Deletions since the previous edition
| GR22/1 | Thessaloniki avoiding line: Axios - Gefira | This route has had no booked passenger use since at least December 2020 |
