Thessaloniki Ready to Welcome its Own Metro in 2024

The Thessaloniki Metro work site. Photo source: Transport Ministry.

The northern port city of Thessaloniki is ready to welcome its own metro scheduled to launch operations next year after the finalization on Wednesday of a contract between Elliniko Metro SA and joint venture Thema SA.

The two parties signed the contract, which foresees the operation and maintenance of the metro, during a special ceremony at the Agia Sofia station work site.

Thessaloniki’s highly anticipated metro is scheduled to operate with 18 trains in 2024 initially along the 9-kilometer basic line which includes 13 stations. Once completed, the metro will serve some 250,000 commuters a day.

(L-R) Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras; Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis; Thessaloniki Mayor Konstantinos Zervas. Photo source: Transport Ministry.

“Today we are taking an important final step and delivering the Thessaloniki Metro, finally, in full operation in 2024,” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during the contract signing event in Thessaloniki.

Mitsotakis described the finalization of the agreement as a “bold decision” to use “private expertise, the best expertise we could find on a European level, in order to ensure the smooth, safe operation of this most important project… while ensuring at the same time that for as long as the contract lasts, the maintenance of this project will be guaranteed”.

Lastly, Mitsotakis underlined that Thessaloniki can “now enjoy both a metro and significant archaeological finds”, which are linked to the history of Thessaloniki and which, he said, was made possible thanks to hard work and the productive cooperation between the Elliniko Metro, the infrastructure ministry and the culture ministry.

The Thessaloniki Metro  work site. Photo source: Transport Ministry.

Also present during the signing ceremony, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras said Thessaloniki would be getting the most modern metro in Europe in 2024 equipped with the latest in technology, safety and quality standards.

He went on to add that Thessaloniki would now boast a “new means of transport that will ensure fast, comfortable, safe, cheap and ‘green’ transport for all citizens”. He said the metro will at the same time showcase the city’s history and evolve into an important “pillar of development which upgrades Thessaloniki’s geopolitical role as a dynamic and outgoing metropolis”, not only of Northern Greece, but also in the wider Balkan region.

Family photo during the Thessaloniki Metro contract signing event. Photo source: Transport Ministry.

The metro marks a massive change to the transport map and daily life of Thessaloniki residents, said Deputy Infrastructure and Transport Minister Nikos Tachiaos during the signing ceremony. He went on to announce that works were also scheduled to begin on the flyover (elevated expressway) which is aimed at easing city traffic.

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

Besides the highly anticipated Thessaloniki metro and flyover, other important works in the pipeline in Thessaloniki include the creation of the Pavlos Melas metropolitan park and of a new technology park, linking the rail station with the port, a new terminal at Thessaloniki’s Makedonia airport, the renovation of the city’s expo center, a new children’s hospital, the completion of the Holocaust Museum, and the redevelopment of central Aristotelous Square and of the beach area.