Thessaloniki Metro Almost Ready, Greek PM on First Test Run

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (R) on board the Thessaloniki metro during its first trial operation on Thursday. The train is entering the Pylea depot, at a low speed.

Thessaloniki’s highly anticipated metro, to serve almost 250,000 commuters a day once completed, is almost ready with the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis taking a test ride this week.

Mitsotakis on Thursday boarded the metro train on a test run along the central 9.6km line across 13 stations. The project was initially budgeted at 3.5 billion euros.

Thessaloniki Metro map (the main line is in red color).

According to Attiko Metro, the company responsible for the construction of the Athens and Thessaloniki metros, the 4.8km extension of the line toward the Thessaloniki suburb of Kalamaria is scheduled for completion by July 2024 and will include five stations. Other extension projects are in the pipeline.

PM Mitsotakis said a decades-long dream has finally been implemented, adding that this was done with respect to the city’s cultural heritage.

Once completed, the Thessaloniki metro will serve 13 modern center platform stations and include 18 ultra-automatic and state-of-the-art trains, fully air-conditioned, which will be run without a train driver, with an attendant aboard the train.

“The Thessaloniki metro is not just an important transport project but a living museum,” said the prime minister after his ride to the Pylea depot. He was accompanied by Transport Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, Central Macedonia Region Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Thessaloniki Mayor Konstantinos Zervas and Attiko Metro SA President Nikos Tahiaos.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Pylea deport.

The Thessaloniki Metro crossover building, located near the Sintrivani-Ekthesi Station, will serve as a museum where important finds from metro excavations will be displayed, the Greek Culture Ministry announced last year.

The prime minister also announced that Attiko Metro will be renamed to Elliniko Metro.

The project was initially expected to have been completed in full by 2023.