Originally the railway network on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece extended to some 731 km of metre gauge track, including the main line from Piraeus and Athína (Athens); however the line through from Piraeus to Kiato had been rebuilt to standard gauge by 2007 so I never travelled over the metre gauge route over that section. The Greek financial crisis of 2010 caused most of the metre gauge routes to be closed and most have never re-opened; the continuation of the conversion of the standard gauge from Kiato on towards Patra has been heavily delayed.
An excellent privately organised 5-day railtour in April 2013 covered almost all of the available track - see photos. The missing section, the branch from Kalamata/Asprohoma to Messini, was deemed unsuitable for use by the locomotive-hauled railtour but it did see usage by DMUs during a religious festival each September. This four-day trip in 2016 was planned to coincide with this festival, and a hire car was arranged to visit other parts of the peninsula that I considered worth further investigation. Unfortunately the trains didn't run, as will be seen, but it was a very interesting few days anyway.
For a map of the network, please follow this link and scroll down - though it is a little out of date.
An excellent privately organised 5-day railtour in April 2013 covered almost all of the available track - see photos. The missing section, the branch from Kalamata/Asprohoma to Messini, was deemed unsuitable for use by the locomotive-hauled railtour but it did see usage by DMUs during a religious festival each September. This four-day trip in 2016 was planned to coincide with this festival, and a hire car was arranged to visit other parts of the peninsula that I considered worth further investigation. Unfortunately the trains didn't run, as will be seen, but it was a very interesting few days anyway.
For a map of the network, please follow this link and scroll down - though it is a little out of date.