Greece

Athens
Kalamata
Thessaloniki

 

Athens
metro, LRT, Funicular subway, interurban

Metro

What's better than a bite of fresh baked baklava? A ride on the sleek, new Athens metro, of course. This sleek 3 line, 23 station system features 2 new lines which are completely underground. One exception is a topside section of Line 3 which connects with the airport along suburban rail tracks, where new trains change from third rail to pantograph. It opened in 2004, just in time for the Olympics. It is 10 stations and 15.4 km. 

Line two is 11 km with 14 stations. Several extensions are in the works, including three elevated stations en-route to the airport.

Line one is a transformation of Athens' original subway, the 1904 Athens-Piraeus Railway, most of which (23.1 km) runs above ground. 

Athens Piraeus Railroad (Line 1)
University of Waterloo construction report
Athens--Athens Public Transport System (in Greek)
New Athens metro home page - cool
The Athens Metro Is Here and the Secret of the Athens metro
Athens metro to expand by 26.2 km by 2010
Railway Technology page
Underground in Athens from the New Greek Network




LRT construction photos courtesy of John Carlson

Tramway


Two light rail lines totaling 23.5 km are are complete and ready to operate, just in time for the Olympic games. The tramway's 2 lines, imaginatively named T1 and T2,  will be administered by Tram S.A., a subsidiary of Attiko Metro. The lines split at the coast, going in opposite directions (as opposed to into the ocean). More on Athen's 2 new tramway lines can be found at the Global Hangover and Greece Now, an Atkins affiliate.

ERS Photos
Unofficial Tram Home Page
Great 2001 article about detail of tramway project



According to irail.com, a new underground line from Piraeus to Athens and Tris Gefyres is in the works. And, last but certainly not least, Athens is also home to the 210 m. underground Lycabettus funicular.


Interurban

This photo shows a tram-like railbus (the  Stadler Rail GTW 2/6) leaving Athens Airport station while another shows the same unit in Piraeus. These units are part of the Peloponnesian narrow gauge lines that serve Athens,  Piraeus,Chalkida on the island of Euboe,  and points beyond.  The airport line shares some of it's trackage with metro line 1.

The Peloponnesian lines are part of the Hellenic Railways Organization (OΣE).
These new units were purchased to handle the increased traffic during the Olympics. They were born and raised in Switzerland, and will run throughout the southwest Greece. This looks like a Grecian Formula for success.

 
Metro photo courtesy Magnus Stomfelt


Three generations of the Athens Piraeus Railway (the original Athens subway)