Greece Launches Thessaloniki Subway After 38 Years Of Construction

ATHENS, Nov 30 (Bernama-Spunik/RIA Novosti) -- The Greek authorities held an inauguration ceremony on Saturday for the first line of Thessaloniki Metro, a US$3 billion project that spanned 38 years, according to a broadcast by the public television channel ERT3, as reported by Sputnik/Ria Novosti.

The ceremony was attended by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as well as members of the government and other politicians.

The freshly-inaugurated line spans 9.6 kilometres (5.96 miles) and has 13 stations along the route. The total travel time from one end to another takes just 17 minutes, with trains arriving every 3.5 minutes, the broadcaster said.

The subway is expected to ease the pressure on other means of public transportation in Greece's second-largest city and serve about 250,000 passengers daily. This capacity will increase to 313,000 passengers in 2025, when another 4.8 kilometres of tracks and five more stations are scheduled to be put into operation.

The broadcaster reported that some shops near subway stations had to close due to an increase in rent.

Proposals for the construction of an underground rail system in Thessaloniki were first made in 1918. In 1976, a prospective Thessaloniki Metro was first mentioned as an item in the city's budget for the first time, and in 1986 the first attempt to build the subway began. The project was scheduled to be completed in 1995 but was halted due to a lack of funding.

Construction work began in 2006 with the goal of completing it by 2012, but the project was delayed due to various factors, including the economic crisis in the 2010s, collapse and bankruptcy of two construction companies, the COVID-19 pandemic, and constant changes to the project due to extensive archaeological excavations under the site.

-- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI