The main line of the Thessaloniki metro will be operational in November 2024, Egnatia street and Venizelou will be handed over to the city on Monday, its extensions in the Western city are progressing and Evosmos has priority, the FlyOver will be done and finished on time, while the reconstruction of the Railway Station is being planned. This was pointed out by the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Nikos Tachiaos, during its installation at the 7th Development Conference organized in Thessaloniki on the topic of “Regional Development and New Infrastructures”.

Referring to the extension of the metro to Macedonia Airport, he said that it is next, while he noted that the plan that is being made and will be announced soon foresees its extension to Toumba and Harilaou “which had never been discussed”, as he said.

Regarding FlyOver, saying that “you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs”, Mr. Tachiaos noted that in all projects when they start there are some problems.

“I am glad that finally the participants in the coordination committee established by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras will take on the responsibilities assigned to them. I believe that it will be announced that the Traffic Management Center of the Region of Central Macedonia will finally be operational within days.”

FlyOver will end in time, Mr. Tachiaos reiterated, unless “those who don’t want FlyOver remember that we can go back to playing the same games we were playing in the city as I see they started for TIF.”

Answering the question why the FlyOver will be finished normally, he emphasized that it is a project that is carried out with specific characteristics, since technically there is absolute competence of the contractor to carry it out and its financing is guaranteed, which is largely based on the banks, the which push for its completion and compliance with the implementation schedules”.

In this context, he expressed his hope that there will be no complications in the implementation of the FlyOver, which, as he said, either have political, personal, or ideologies behind them.”

Among other things in his speech he said that we must all be clear in the political decision and we must defend it and he underlined that the prime minister is the biggest asset for the country in its international promotion and in its claims.

He said that the implementation of the Submarine in Thessaloniki is another “failure”, since it was not done and it continues to cost money since it was not even paid off. Referring to the OASTH, he spoke of Syriza’s obsession with its nationalization.

In conclusion, he noted that public infrastructure is not enough for Thessaloniki to move forward and emphasized that a strategy is needed, while pointing out that the city must turn to the private sector and mobilize it by attracting it with its attractiveness.

The conference was organized by the Hellenic Research and Development Institute (ELINEKA), The Political Calendar – Thessaloniki Agenda, Myportal.gr and the newspaper “Politiki”.