The President of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Chrístos Staikouras, the deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Nikolaos Tachiaos, have inaugurated the Thessaloniki driverless metro line in an official ceremony held at the depot, in Pylea by a formal event with pressing the button at the new Operation Control Centre.
The event held on November 30, also attended by the CEO of Elleniko Metro (the former Attiko Metro), Nikolas Kouretas, the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, the President and CEO of the Aktor Group, Alexandros Exarchou, and the CEO of the Thessaloniki Metro Operation and Maintenance Company Thema, Carlo Bianco.
Speaking about the Thessaloniki metro driverless line, the Prime Minister said that “Thessaloniki is being upgraded. It is becoming more attractive, modern and functional, more friendly to its residents and visitors, highlighting its rich past, dynamic present and promising future.”
The Thessaloniki Metro is the largest transport, development and environmental infrastructure project in Greece covering two lines and country’s first automated metro line. The first line is 10 km long with 13 modern stations and the depot in Pylea. The line was built by Webuild in collaboration with Hitachi and the Greek company Aktor.
The line connects the western and eastern part of Thessaloniki in a 18-minute journey and is expected to become the main hub for inner city journeys changing Thessaloniki’s mobility.
During the official event, the gates of the entrances and the 13 metro stations were opened to the public and passengers began to board the trains.
The line is operated by 18 fully automated Hitachi trains equipped with air-conditioned and the latest technology, and each station has automatic platform screen doors for improved passenger service and safety. The trains are circulating with a headway of about a 3 minutes. The automatic is fully accessible and constantly monitored by video cameras overseen by the control room, that is operational all day.
The operation and maintenance of the Thessaloniki driverless metro line is the responsibility of Thema, a consortium comprising ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi) and Egis with 51% and 49% respectively. The 11-year contract has been signed in 2023 totalling EUR 250 million.
The project, which was originally scheduled to be completed in 2012, took 10 years to complete, facing delays due to political, bureaucracy and archeological issues, reaching a total cost of almost EUR 3 billion.
“For every citizen, changing their travel patterns, getting used to the means of transport, but above all, abandoning the habit of driving a car, takes time. It is up to the city leaders to communicate and specify the big goal: fewer cars on the roads and practical steps towards sustainable urban mobility, low cost and high efficiency. This is metro. We are delivering to the people of Thessaloniki their Metro. (…) We now have both a metro and ancient monuments, such as Venizelos station, which is an important ancient monument,” the deputy Minister of Infrastructure said.
“Thessaloniki is developing a modern, reliable, safe, environmentally friendly urban rail transport. One journey has ended and another, long journey has begun. The project went through many stages. Everything was overcome with a plan and proper programming and with a lot of work.” the CEO of Elleniko Metro said.
Venizelou station situated in the city centre, serving city’s Line 1 and Line 2, becomes a famous station due to its visitable part of the antiquities for which the General Directorate of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage agreed for people to be able to tour the new station to learn about history.
Venizelou station hosts the world’s biggest open museum within a metro station, with archaeological findings dating back to Roman times. Passengers as well as tourists can see more than 300,000 artifacts in the city and antiquities are also displayed outside a nearby station, under protective glass.
The difficult decisions to remove and reinstall all these antiquities at the Venizelou station, the implemented activities as well as the political reactions delayed the project by almost five years. “The metro is not just a huge infrastructure project but also is an archaeological wealth of Thessaloniki, and now it also has an additional symbolism. It is a project that proves that when we want to, we can overcome the issues of the past,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
Excavations uncovered treasures of immense historical value, such as numerous marble slabs from the famous Roman road known as the Decumanus Maximus. Such was the commitment to preserving this heritage that, in some cases, station locations were adjusted based on archaeological discoveries. For instance, the Demokratias station was shifted 10 meters to better accommodate the remains of a Byzantine-era wall uncovered during the digging.
“When people will use the metro, will exchange impressions with each other. You will all agree that this is a different Thessaloniki. Whether you keep in mind the charm of Venizelos station or are won over by the quality and functionality of the rest of the project, you will end up with the same: <another Thessaloniki>. This is what I have heard from those who entered this project for whatever reason,” the deputy Minister of Infrastructure said.
The Thessaloniki driverless metro line is expected to have a daily ridership of 313,000 passengers and reduce the number of cars by 57,000 vehicles per day resulting in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 137,000 tons per year.
After completion and the extension to Kalamaria, by the end of 2025, it is planned that 18 stations will serve 340,000 passengers daily. With the operation of the metro, the transport map of Thessaloniki is changing.
The Kalamaria extension, which is already in an advanced construction phase, will be served by 5 underground stations from Martiou station to Mikra terminus, in the south part of Thessaloniki. Upon completion, trains in service will be 33 with a 90s headway.
Following its completion, the daily ridership shall rise to 63,000 passengers. In addition and as a result of the project’s operation, the number of the circulating private vehicles shall be reduced by 12,000 vehicles per day, and resulting in a reduction of 43 tonnes of CO2 per day.
“Let me repeat once again my personal commitment that the metro will also be extended to Western Thessaloniki, as we have said repeatedly. We will complete the entire metro network to gain environmental benefits and shift road transport towards clean mobility,” the Prime Minister said.
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