At the end of November, the western suburban railway of Thessaloniki will start its routes and within a period of 12 minutes the route from the New Railway Station to Sindo will be carried out with the suburban ticket costing one euro the normal one and reduced for students.

Today, the first test route of the suburban train was carried out, as the Deputy Minister of Transport, Konstantinos Kyranakis, said, speaking before the students of the International University in Sindos at an event held in the “Alexandros” hall entitled “Western Suburban: Possibilities and prospects for development”.

Mr. Kyranakis informed that the line from NSS to Sindos, which will be remotely controlled, with a modern remote control system, will be delivered a month earlier, as the initial announcements spoke of starting the routes at the end of December. “The works are being carried out, there will be a renovated station in Sindos, so that your everyday life and movements can be done with dignity and with greater safety. The fact that young children get on a bus that goes out on the National Road, is an issue that must end and leave it in the past”, said Mr. Kyranakis, addressing the student community.

In addition, the minister underlined that once the suburban railway routes to Sindo begin, line “52” of the OATH will be modified, which will run a safer alternative route and not via the National Road. At the Sindos station there will be buses that will transport the thousands of students to the university campus free of charge, while two electric bicycle stations are planned for those who want an alternative way of transportation.

“Thessaloniki in 2019 had tragic transportation. Consider that there were only 240 buses in all of Thessaloniki. Today there are 500, more than twice as many and by the end of 2026 we will reach 550 city cars. We reduced the distances, new buses arrived, next year the fleet will be renewed and with new electric buses, the metro will be extended to Kalamaria, we built the suburban train. Thessaloniki is experiencing a transportation revolution. We want a Thessaloniki with transportation that it deserves”, said Mr. Kyranakis.

Regarding the issue of trust in the railway, the Deputy Minister of Transport emphasized that “the problem must be looked at head on to be solved. In 2019 remote management was at 1% in Greece. Today in Athens-Thessaloniki we are at 80% and by the summer we will be at 100%” and he added that “the railway that was abandoned during the years of the crisis is finally being revived. This is something we have to admit and everyone sees it.” He promised the students that “we will change this image day by day, month by month. I promise you.”

How many students and residents move to DIPAE and Sindos

In his brief greeting at the event, the Deputy Minister of the Interior, responsible for Macedonia-Thrace issues, Kostas Giulekas, addressing the students, said that with the suburban railway “you will be facilitated to come and go to the university and your homes in a different way and avoid inconvenience. This is an offer to the new generation. In addition to the students, we also have the movement of thousands of workers.”

The Rector of DIPAE, Stamatis Angelopoulos, underlined that 15,000 students study at the DIPAE of Sindos, a number that is increasing much more with students from previous years as well as those who are in the city through Erasmus. “Today is an important day because it will also help in the residential development of the area, in attracting students and researchers. The project will develop both the region and the university. The perspective of western Thessaloniki will change. Now, in 25 minutes, those interested from the center and in the coming months from Kalamaria will be able to come to Sindos using the metro and the suburban train.”

The deputy regional governor of Thessaloniki, Kostas Youtikas, also participated in the panel of the event, who referred to the project that went through “many waves and the start of the routes is a victory of the self-evident and of cooperation”, praising the reflexive Mr. Kyranakis who “realized the expediency of the immediate operation of the western suburban”. Mr. Yutikas added that the project “offers many benefits to transportation and gives Thessaloniki the characteristics of a modern metropolis”, adding that the next goal will be to reach the suburban line to Giannitsa.

The mayor of Delta, Gerakina Bisbina, in addition to the thousands of students, stood at the service of the residents of Sindos, saying that thousands of residents move daily from her municipality to the center of Thessaloniki.

“When there is will, cooperation and synergy everything can go well. Workers in the industrial area will be able to commute by commuter train. The students are the same. For so long the children were excluded. At this time, the interconnection helps the development of the local community. The west helps to develop the whole prefecture of Thessaloniki”, she said characteristically, pledging to create a modern network of cycle paths to serve those who wish to travel with electric bicycles after the commuter train.

Finally, the managing director of OSE, Christos Palios, underlined that the western suburban railway is a project “with a distant past, whose fate was questioned by many”. He added that in the next period the necessary work will be done on the docks, the shelters, the necessary pedestrian crossings, while parking lots will be created to serve passengers and road renovations. “It is not a detached and isolated project. We are offering a project that contributes to a network of combined transport”, said Mr. Palios, mentioning that the next step is to make a major scrap to breathe life into the area of ​​the Delta municipality from the thousands of abandoned wagons.

The two branches of the suburban train and the stops

The western suburban railway will start from the New Railway Station, continue towards Menemeni, Eptanisou Street and Kordelio and then develop into two branches. The first will end in Sindos, close to the DIPAE and the southern entrance of the Industrial Area, with services starting at the end of November, covering the route in 12 minutes.

The second branch will be directed towards Diavata, Aghialos, the northern entrance of the VIPE, while it will extend to Agios Athanasios and Gefyra. This sector will be auctioned by the end of 2025 and the contractor will emerge in 2026, connecting the city with the municipality of Chalcedon.

The event was attended by, among others, the Metropolitan of Neapolis and Stavroupolis, Varnavas, who spoke with warm words about the opening of the western suburb, State MP Nefeli Hatziioannidou, MPs Fanis Pappas, Theodoros Karaoglou and Diamantis Golidakis, the director of the Prime Minister’s office in Macedonia, Michalis Bekiris and the coordinator of the Prime Minister’s office in Thessaloniki, Yiannis Papageorgiou. The discussion at the DIPAE panel was moderated by the journalist, Nikos Oikonomou.