Greece: although it is a country strongly affected by the financial crisis and still faces negative effects in all economic sectors, this does not represent an impediment for the elaboration of strategies on railway projects aiming at increasing the transport share and the opportunities regarding traffic potential.
100% owned by the state, the railway company Trainose registered an operating deficit amounting to EUR 240 Million in the period 2007-2009, but since 2010 it has organised an ambitious restructuring plan which aimed, besides the social programmes, at applying a new tariff policy, at implementing a new management scheme for intercity transport and at modifying the cost system in the freight transport that should promote block train services.
“In the next three years, the strategy of the railway freight sector aims at connecting ports, logistics centres and industrial centres in the railway industry, increasing the market share of the railway freight transport, optimising the cooperation at cross-border points, reducing the interconnection costs, promoting electrification projects and allocating investments to technological systems”, declared Athanasios Ziliaskopoulos, CEO of Trainose, during the event Railway Days – Railway Investment Summit in the Wider Black Sea Area 2012.
By developing these projects, in the next decade Greece intends to become an important supplier of transport services in South-Eastern Europe, through the creation of alternative offers regarding logistics chains on the axis Far East, Balkans, Central and South-Eastern Europe.
In order to reach these objectives, Trainose has established an action plan aiming at “connecting the port of Piraeus, Cosco terminal and the port of Alexandroupolis to the railway network, developing facilities for the Thessaloniki container terminal, establishing direct contracts with great industrial companies”, mentioned Ziliaskopoulos. For infrastructure optimisation, Greece will launch the electrification project of Athens-Tithorea line, the modernisation of Thessaloniki railway yard and the use of Thriassion intermodal freight centre.
Greece is a state that wishes to implement European policies on transport, trying to allocate investments to railway infrastructure projects for the purpose of increasing the transported freight volumes. In this view, for instance, EU wants the member states to really contribute to the reduction of the road traffic and to the shift of freight flows to railway and naval routes so as to gradually eliminate the environmental impact. For a constant increase of volumes, the European authorities suggest the increase of trains’ length and of the axle load. Under the circumstances, “Greece, just like many European states, wants to increase the market share of the railway transport. We hope we will be able to have longer train and to increase the axle load to 22.5 tonne. The established objectives will help us to become an important company for the European railway traffic within 10-15 years”, mentioned Athanasios Ziliaskopoulos, CEO of Trainose.
Share on:
