Proastiakos Athens

The Athens Suburban Railway, also known as Proastiakos Athens (Greek: Προαστιακός Αθήνας) is a commuter rail service that connects the city of Athens with its metropolitan area and other regions beyond Attica, such as the areas of Boeotia, Euboea and Corinthia.

Athens Suburban Railway (Proastiakos)

Siemens Desiro near Nerantziotissa station, towards Athens Airport.
Overview
Locale	Attica, parts of Central Greece and Peloponnese
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	4
Number of stations	45
Website	TrainOSE (operator)
Operation
Began operation	30 July 2004 (2004-07-30)
Operator(s)	TrainOSE
Number of vehicles	20 Siemens Desiro 460
Technical
System length	230.9 km (143.5 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Electrification	25k V AC overhead lines
Top speed	160 km/h (99 mph)
System map Chalcis Avlida Kalochori-Panteichi to Patras under construction Agios Georgios Kiato Dilesi Zevgolatio TrainOSE to Thessaloniki Corinth Oinoi Agioi Theodoroi Oinofyta Kineta Agios Thomas Megara Avlona Nea Peramos Sfendali Magoula Afidnes Aspropyrgos Agios Stefanos Ano Liosia Dekeleia Acharnes Zefyri Acharnes Railway Center Kato Acharnai Metamorfosi () Pyrgos Vasilissis Iraklio Agioi Anargyroi Nerantziotissa Athens Kifisias () Rouf Pentelis Tavros Line 3 to Syntagma Rentis Doukissis Plakentias Lefka Attiko Metro │ Hellenic Railways Organisation () Piraeus Pallini Paiania-Kantza Koropi Airport

The first Proastiakos train linked Athens Railway Station with Athens International Airport, on time for the 2004 Summer Olympics that were held in Athens. As years went by, the network was expanded to Corinth, Kiato, and since there have been added itineraries towards the cities of Chalcis and Thebes, as well.

Lines and services

Proastiakos of Athens consists of four routes: one from Piraeus to the Airport, one from Athens International Airport to Kiato, one from Athens Cental station to Chalcis and one from Ano Liosia to the Airport.[1] Trains run from approximately 5:00am to midnight daily.[2][3] There are 45 stations in total.

Main services

The following table lists the routes and the stations for the Proastiakos network of Athens:[4]

Proastiakos routes

Route	Route	Stations	Length (km)
1	Piraeus - Airport	19	48.2
2	Piraeus - Kiato	20	122
3	Athens - Chalcis	19	82.7
4	Ano Liosia - Airport	12	33.2
5	Kiato - Aigio	9	65.3
6	Airport - Kiato	11	134.6

Stations

The suburban railway connects with the other urban railways of Athens in the following stations:

• Piraeus: The suburban station is located close to the Metro Line 1 terminus.
• Athens Central (Larissa Station): connection with Metro line 2.
• Nerantziotissa: connection with Metro Line 1.
• Plakentias: connection with Metro line 3.
• Pallini: shared station with Metro line 3.
• Paiania–Kantza: shared station with Metro line 3.
• Koropi: shared station with Metro line 3.
• Airport: shared station with Metro line 3.
• Acharnai (SKA): passengers can transfer to the mainline and regional rail service of Greece.
• Kato Acharnes : connecting the line Kiato-Airport with Piraeus-Airport
• Kiato: passengers can transfer to TrainOSE bus services to Patras.

Future expansion

Extension from Kiato to Aigio

As part of the P.A.Th.E./P. project, the Athens Airport-Kiato line is being extended to eventually reach Patras. In August 2019, Proastiakos services currently terminating at Kiato were to be extended to Aigio;[5] this has now been deferred to June 2020.

Lavrio branch line

In 2016 a nine station, 32 km extension of the Proastiakos network from Koropi station to Lavrio was announced, at a cost of €350 million, connecting 300,000 more people to the rail network.[6] New stations will be built at Markopoulo Mesogaias, Kalyvia Thorikou, Kouvaras, Keratea, Daskalio 1, Daskalio 2, Thoriko, Kyprianos Lavrio and Lavrio Port.

Loutraki line reopening

In February 2019, Hellenic Railways Organisation accepted a bid for the €12 million project to regauge the former metre gauge line from Isthmos to Loutraki to standard gauge, connect it to the Athens Airport-Patras railway and reopen it to passenger traffic by 2021.[7] [8] Mytilineos-Xanthakis was selected as the contractor of the project. Due to an appeal from the contractor AKTOR, the signing of the contract was delayed. The signing of contract happened on June 4, 2019.[9] The project is expected to revitalize Loutraki's essential role in the tourism sector and help improve the city’s financial stability. The Proastiakos is expected to reach Loutraki by 2021. The project consists of the electrification of the tracks Isthmus-Loutraki and building two stops—one at the casino and the other in Loutraki. According to a local news outlet, the works of this project are expected to start on July 29, 2019.

Rafina branch

Talks are set to begin with the European Union in 2019 to build a branch line from Doukissis Plakentias station to the town of Rafina.[10] [11]

Notes

References

1. https://www.athenstransport.com/info/proastiakos/
2. "Urban Rail Transport S.A.: First & Last Train Departures". Urban Rail Transport S.A. (STASY). Retrieved 2013-07-25.
3. "Urban Rail Transport S.A.: Detailed TRAM Timetables". Urban Rail Transport S.A. (STASY). Retrieved 2013-07-25.
4. Athens Suburban Railway, TrainOSE, accessed 23 June 2020.
5. "More Suburban Railway Stops Added to Peloponnese Line". GTP News. 18 April 2019.
6. "Suburban Train to Pull in to Lavrio Port by 2019". GTP. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
7. "Loutraki - ERGOSE". ERGOSE. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
8. "Isthmos - Loutraki railway line upgrade project on its way to the Court of Audit". Ypodomes. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
9. "Loutraki Proastiakos Contract Signing".