‘Sprint’ for the delivery of the metro in Piraeus in early autumn

‘Sprint’ for the delivery of the metro in Piraeus in early autumn

Of Foti Fotinos

The “big moment” for the city of Piraeus is getting closer and closer. Attiko Metro and the contracting consortium, AVAX – Ghella – ALSTOM, are making efforts to deliver the “Maniatika”, “Piraeus” and “Municipal Theater” stations in early autumn, with the most optimistic scenario being mentioned at the end of September.

The delivery of the stations is in the final stretch, as on July 30 the stations “Agia Varvara”, “Korydallos” and “Nikaia” will be temporarily closed, in order to carry out test routes from “Ag. Marina” to the “Municipal Theatre”, with the OASA to proceed in parallel with the creation of the bus line “X50 Ag. Marina – Nice” to meet the needs of passengers.

The city of Piraeus is anxiously awaiting the delivery of the stations, as it is a project that will make Piraeus a transport hub, as it will have all means of fixed track (metro, tram, electric, suburban) and especially in the case of the metro , direct connection to “El. Venizelos” airport.

In fact, the total metro time from the port to the airport is estimated at around 55 minutes.

On the other hand, Piraeus “waited” for a long time for the delivery of the stations, given that the initial contract was signed in March 2012, with a completion horizon of 5 years.

For a variety of reasons, the original schedule became impossible to meet, with the first three stations of the Piraeus metro extension (“Agia Varvara”, “Korydallos” and “Nicaia”) being delivered in the summer of 2020.

The transport and environmental benefits of the expansion in Piraeus

According to Attiko Metro’s initial estimates, the operation of the first three stations of the extension to Piraeus resulted in 63,000 additional daily boardings and significant environmental benefits, such as a reduction of 11,000 car traffic per day and carbon dioxide emissions by 60 tons per day.

Accordingly, with the completion of the project and the commissioning of the “Maniatika”, “Piraeus” and “Municipal Theater” stations, an increase in the total traffic on the metro network by 132,000 passengers is expected, reducing both the traffic of passenger vehicles by 23,000 per day, as well as carbon dioxide emissions by 120 tons per day.

In total, the Agia Marina – Piraeus extension is 7.6 km long and, as mentioned above, consists of 6 stations.

Source: Capital