Transport program opens up the interior
INVESTMENT IN THE ROAD AND RAIL NETWORK HAS BEEN ON A GRAND SCALE, PROMISING MUCH QUICKER TRIP TIMES AND REDUCED CONGESTION

TO ACCOMMODATE high-speed trains, railway organization ERGA OSE has had to carve a number of routes through the Greek mountains like the Platamonas tunnel, above.

The physical infrastructure of Greece is being transformed. The country’s roads and rail network and its airports and sea ports, are undergoing massive modernization and expansion. The intention is to make the country – which lies at the far eastern reaches of the EU – more accessible to the remainder of the continent.
Greece is currently home to some of the world’s biggest and most ambitious road and railway projects. Investment is being channeled from the EU and the Greek government, as well as the private sector, to create a more modern and comprehensive transport system.

Egnatia Odos, a state-owned organization based in Thessaloniki, is responsible for the construction and operation of a giant new 408 mile highway stretching all the way across northern Greece, which traverses a number of sensitive environmental areas.
The $4.4 billion project is named after a well-known Roman road called Via Egnatia, which followed the same route centuries before. In addition to normal road, bridge and tunnel construction in often very difficult terrain, it has to deal with archeological sites and even wild bears in the mountains. By the end of 2002, around 250 miles of the road will be open to traffic.

IN ADDITION to the normal pitfalls of road construction in often difficult terrain, the current projects have had to accommodate archeological sites, and even mountain bears.

When finished, the highway will eventually stretch from the Ionian port of Igoumenitsa, in the west, to Alexandroupoli at the Turkish border, in the east. It is an indicator of the warming relations between the two countries, as well as a firm commitment to the long-term development of northern Greece.
Mr. Economidas, the Chairman of Egnatia Odos, says a key challenge will be attracting capital from the private sector to plug the financing shortfall in the project. It will mean persuading more transport firms to use the road in order to make it viable for private investors.

“As it cuts journey times from the current 11 hours to 6.5 hours, the very creation of the highway will lead to an enormous increase in traffic as both private and commercial users will find it the fastest and most cost-efficient route to access the region,” he says.
Egnatia Odos – identified as one of the trans-European transport network priority projects in 1994 – will provide EU industrial centers to the west with a transport corridor to the east with no border crossings, by-passing countries like Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria.

A number of U.S. firms are participating in the project, including Parsons Group on the construction management side and Halliburton Brown & Root, which won the project management tender in 1995. Much of the equipment being used is sourced from companies’ American interests.
Mr. Economidas says the highway is important in many ways. “The highway opens up large areas of the Greek interior which were previously very isolated. The road also dramatically improves access to 30 tourist destinations across northern Greece. It thus creates the conditions for economic, cultural and social development.”
Upon completion, Egnatia Odos will manage the highway for 50 years, although it is also looking at other projects in which it can utilize its experience.
“The company’s strategy is to undertake other infrastructure projects in Greece and also in the wider region, both through the European reconstruction program and through the Greek program for the reconstruction of the Balkans,” says Mr. Economidas.

“The company has already been awarded the project management for a series of smaller road construction projects in Greece, as well as design contracts in Albania.”
Other important highway projects include the Attiki Odos initiative, a 45-mile road stretching from the new Athens International Airport west to Elefsina in Attica. The $1.5 billion scheme forms part of a new Athens ring road initiative designed to reduce congestion in the Greek capital.
Investment in the railroads sector, dominated by the state-owned Hellenic Railway Organization (OSE), is on an equally grand scale, supported again by European development funds.
In 1997, the management at OSE established ERGA OSE, an organization set up specifically to implement and manage funds allocated by the EU’s Community Support Framework 2000-2006.
It oversees many of the country’s big rail schemes, from improvements to the national network to the development of the suburban rail system around Athens and improvements to the commercial and freight system.

Dr. CHRISTOS TSITOURAS Managing Director of ERGA OSE

Dr. Christos Tsitouras, Managing Director of ERGA OSE, says that there is a great deal of work in and around the Athens area in support of the 2004 Olympics and other transport initiatives such as the Attiki Odos road project. This includes the building of a new station by the Olympic stadium and a new Central Station.
“The railway will complement both the Attiki Odos highway and the metro that will be completed by 2004 in time for the Olympics so that there is easy access to the Olympic sites,” he says.
One of the most important features will be the connection with the new Athens International Airport, which will be in place by 2004. Other projects include an electrified light rail system linking the airport with the city center and the stadium.
Dr. Tsitouras says that all eyes will be on Greece during the Games, so it will be vital to make the right impression.

“This will be the best advertisement for Greece and our rail network,” he says. “By 2004, we will have completed more than 50 percent of our projects. In the next two years, we will concentrate on the Attica region and the Athens-Thessaloniki line, which will make it possible to go between the two most important cities in the country in three-and-a-half hours.”
He says that the modernization and upgrading of the national rail network is ongoing and will continue long after the Games are over. This includes the development of a high-speed and fully electrified system with double lines and modern signaling equipment. But it also comes at a price, especially given Greece’s rugged and mountainous terrain.

“High speed means that trains have to go in a straight line. Because of the geography of Greece, we have had to build tunnels through mountains,” he says. “This is very expensive, which is why these projects did not take place in the past.”
The largest tunnel is the Kalidromo project, which is actually two tunnels, each nearly six miles long. There are many other tunnels of around 3-4 miles. There is also investment in the country’s other rail stations across the country and OSE’s rolling stock.
The creation of a more extensive and reliable rail network will have longer-term benefits, notably opening up lesser known parts of the country to foreign visitors.
“We believe that the rail system will promote the regions to tourists because they are equally important and in many cases more interesting,” says Dr. Tsitouras. “Our high speed trains will run up to 125 miles per hour and create easier access to areas such as Meteora, Sparta and Delphi.”

ERGA OSE will also be looking to take its experience to other countries, especially in the Balkans, where further investments in the development of the railways sector are predicted. Dr. Tsitouras believes that a modern railway system will be one of the main means of transportation in Europe in the future.
“If you come to Greece in a few years’ time, you will find a new means of public transportation that is going to match European and American standards,” he says.
“This means that many of the past difficulties will be absent. The train system in Athens will help avoid traffic and pollution problems. We are very environmentally conscious and fund excavation and maintenance projects. So, from the Olympic Games in 2004 and onwards, you will be able to visit new areas of Greece in a safer, faster and more pleasurable way.”