development of the port of Alexandroupolis as a
gateway to Europe, through the creation of a mul-
timodal link to Bulgaria, Romania and the Black
Sea that will offer an alternative to the existing
route through the Dardanelles straits.
Other major projects
One of the priorities is the completion of the large
road projects that have been in progress for the
past few years.
The deadline for the completion of existing proj-
ects has been set for March 2017, while the
Megalopolis-Kalamata and Kalamata-Sparti
motorways will soon be made available to the
public.
The “Ionia Odos” and “Olympia Odos” motorways
will have been completed by March 2017.
It should be noted that in 2016 attention will be
focused again on the new airport at Kastelli,
Heraklion Crete (budgeted at approximately
850,000,000 euros), and the Salamina-Perama
submarine link (budgeted at approximately
380,000,000 euros).
Following a long pause, the worksites of the
Thessaloniki metro, which had been idle for four
years, are coming back to life and the tunnel bor-
ing machines have been put to work. The new
delivery deadline has been set for 2020.
Given that 75% of the total length of the main line
has already been realised, construction of the
tunnels is expected to be completed by the end of
the year.
Meanwhile, work at the construction sites began
again in early March. More specifically, construction
work is in progress at the Dimokratias crossover,
the Dimokratias, Sintrivani, Aghia Sophia, Papafis,
Voulgaris, and Nea Elvetia stations, the Patrikios
crossover and station, and the Depot.
Construction work is also underway for the com-
pletion of the Metro extension to Kalamaria, as
currently there is work-in-progress at five stations
of this line.
Developments in regard to the extension of the
Athens suburban railway to Lavrion and Rafina
are also expected within the next few months.
These extensions have been in the planning
stage for quite a few years, but were never
among the priorities for the successive leader-
ships of the Ministry of Transportation.
The new line will be 31 km long, and will begin at
the Koropi railway station. Its design includes two
railway stations (at Markopoulo and the Port of
Lavrion) and 7 intermediate stops (Kalyvia,
Kouvaras, Keratea, Amphitrope, Perigiali Thoriko,
Lavrion Training Centre).
The Ministry of Infrastructure has already decided
on the construction of a line that will be using low-
voltage electrification, enabling speeds of up to
120 km/hour, and will also include level crossings.
Apparently this choice was made for cost-saving
purposes, as total costs are expected to reach
240 million euros, including expropriation costs.
The aim is to tender the project soon and deliver
it for use before 2020. According to estimates,
this extension will carry 300,000 passengers
daily.
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