Last update for this page: 16 October 2004.
National Railway System: Organisme des Chemins de fer Helleniques S.A. The state railway is normally abbreviated as OSE, this being derived from a transliteration of the Greek title, Organismos Sidirodromon Ellados.
Language: Greek. Greek script is quite different from Roman and there is no standard system of transcription. French is the official second language, though English is increasingly used. In many of the places served by the railway system, away from the main tourist areas, only Greek is spoken.
Currency: Euro
UIC code: OSE: 73
Timetable: Indicateur des Horaires is in Greek and French. Most trains run every day of the week and many of the standard symbols indicating days of operation (such as crossed hammers for Mondays to Saturdays) are not used. The timetable includes a simple system map that shows principal stations only. Another timetable that has been seen is Synoptika Dromologia Esoterikou Epivatikon Amaxosteehion (Synoptic National Timetable of Passenger Trains), in Greek only. Note that trains numbered 4nnn have been reported as often not running.
A downloadable version of the current pocket timetable is at de.geocities.com/km112266/ - this site is in German but the timetable pages are in Greek. OSE has a good website at www.ose.gr/%286805972918900491%29/ecHome.asp?lang=2 (English version) with timetable information: click on 'News' and then 'Announcements' for timetable changes, bus-substitutions etc. The timetable of the new service to the airport is at www.proastiakos.gr/en/index.asp.
Gauge: Standard. The Peloponnese lines (from Piraeus to Patras, Olimpia and Kalamata etc) are metre gauge. The line from Diakopto to Kalavrita is 750mm gauge.
Electrification: 25kV 50Hz.
Rule of the road: Right.
Other Railways: None.
Tourist Lines:
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Attika Museum Railway: Keratea to Kalivia (extension to Markopoulo under construction) (metre gauge) |
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Pilio Railway: Ano Lehonia to Milies (600mm gauge). |
Metro: Athens.
Trams: Athens.
Trolleybuses: Athens, Piraeus.
Special Notes:
Trains can be very crowded. Reservations are desirable and sometimes essential. Reserved seats are not marked as such.
Station names are usually shown in Roman script as well as in Greek, but spellings can vary considerably from what may appear in timetables, maps or guide books.
Recent and future changes:
The first main line electrification in Greece, from Thessaloniki to Idomeni was formally inaugurated on 27 May 1999.
The main line from Athena to Thessaloniki is in course of extensive reconstruction, including doubling, re-alignment and electrification. This work has been under way for many years and may not be completed in time for the 2004 Olympic Games. The Athens to Patras line is also being rebuilt, at standard gauge (it was originally proposed to be metre gauge but funding for this was refused by the European Union).
The former metre gauge line between Palaeofarsalos and Kalambaka has been converted to standard gauge. The metre gauge line between Volos and Palaeofarsalos appears to have been abandoned.
Other lines to be retained and developed are Thessaloniki to Svilengrad; Plati to Kozani and Florina; and Kalamata to Korinthos and Patras. Others are likely to be privatised or closed.
Train services have been suspended between Messonissia and Kremenica (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) due to tension between Greece and FYROM, and are unlikely to resume. The metre gauge line from Paleofarsalos to Volos closed on 19 June 1998. The Peloponnese branch from Pirghos to Katakolo closed on 28 October 1998 due to poor track condition.
Maps: Quail Map Co published a railway map of Greece, with extensive supplementary information, but this is currently out of print.
Last complete update 10/15 November 1999; general update (18 February 2001); Currency updated (2 January 2002); Pilio Railway details updated (13 January 2002); minor updates (16 August 2003 and 16 October 2004).
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