Acharnes railway station ( el, Σιδηροδρομικός σταθμός Αχαρνών, Sidirodromikós stathmós Acharnón) is a station on the

Piraeus–Platy railway The railway from Piraeus to Platy is an electrified double-track railway line that connects Athens to northern Greece and the rest of Europe. It constitutes the longest section of the mostly completed higher-speed rail line known as P.A.Th.E./P ...

line in the northern part of the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

urban area, in the municipality of

Acharnes Acharnes ( el, Αχαρνές, , before 1915: Μενίδι Menidi, ) is a northwestern suburb of Athens, Attica, Greece. With 106,943 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the most populous municipality in East Attica. It is part of the Athens Urban ar ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It was inaugurated on 8 March 1904. It is owned by OSE, however, services are provided by

TrainOSE Hellenic Train S.A., formerly TrainOSE S.A. ( el, ΤραινΟΣΕ Α.Ε., pronounced ''trenosé'') is a private railway company in Greece which currently operates passenger and freight trains on OSE lines. TrainOSE was acquired in September 201 ...

through the

Athens Suburban Railway The Athens Suburban Railway, ( el, Προαστιακός Αθήνας, Proastiakós Athínas) is a commuter rail service that connects the city of Athens with its metropolitan area and other regions beyond Attica, including Corinthia, Boeotia, Eu ...

from Athens to

Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

.Proastiakos timetable 2020
/ref> Acharnes station was originally known as ''Menidi'', the vernacular name of Acharnes.

History

The Station opened on 8 March 1904 on what was a

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

of the Piraeus, Demerli & Frontiers Railway. Originally the line was steam-powered, evident by the (now) disused water pump adjacent to the station. In 1920 the station and most of the standard gauge railways in Greece came under the control of the

Hellenic State Railways Hellenic State Railways or SEK ( el, Σιδηρόδρομοι Ελληνικού Κράτους, ''Sidirodromi Ellinikou Kratous''; Σ.Ε.Κ.) was a Greek public sector entity (legal person of public law, el, Ν.Π.Δ.Δ.) which was established in ...

(SEK). During the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–44), Athens was controlled by the German military, and the line used for the transport of troops and weapons. During the occupation (and especially during German withdrawal in 1944), the network was severely damaged by both the German army and Greek resistance groups. The track and rolling stock replacement took time following the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, with normal service levels resumed around 1948. In 1970 OSE became the legal successor to the SEK, taking over responsibilities for most of Greece's rail infrastructure. On 1 January 1971 the station and most of the Greek rail infrastructure were transferred to the '' Hellenic Railways Organisation S.A.'', a state-owned corporation. The line was converted to diesel sometime before 1990. Freight traffic declined sharply when the state-imposed monopoly of OSE for the transport of agricultural products and fertilisers ended in the early 1990s. Many small stations of the network with little passenger traffic were closed down. In 2001 the infrastructure element of OSE was created, known as GAIAOSE, it would henceforth be responsible for the maintenance of stations, bridges and other elements of the network, as well as the leasing and the sale of railway assists. In 2003, OSE launched "Proastiakos SA", as a subsidiary to serve the operation of the suburban network in the urban complex of Athens during the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. In 2005, TrainOSE was created as a brand within OSE to concentrate on rail services and passenger interface. In 2008, all Athens Suburban Railway services were transferred from OSE to TrainOSE. In 2009, with the

Greek debt crisis Greece faced a sovereign debt crisis in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Widely known in the country as The Crisis (Greek: Η Κρίση), it reached the populace as a series of sudden reforms and austerity measures that le ...

unfolding OSE's Management was forced to reduce services across the network. Timetables were cutback and routes closed, as the government-run entity attempted to reduce overheads. In 2017 OSE's passenger transport sector was privatised as

, currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane infrastructure, including stations, remained under the control of OSE. That same year on 30 July Line 3 of the

began serving the station. In 2018 The police broke up a criminal enterprise that targeted waiting for passengers and rail staff at the station.

Facilities

The ground-level station is assessed via stairs or a ramp. It has two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s, with the main station buildings located on the eastbound platform, with access to the platforms via stairs or lifts. There are station buildings on the westbound. However, these are inaccessible and rundown. The Station is housed in the original stone-built station buildings and is equipped with a booking office and waiting area. At platform level, both platforms have sheltered seating and

Dot-matrix display A dot-matrix display is a low cost electronic digital display device that displays information on machines such as clocks, watches, calculators, and many other devices requiring a simple alphanumeric (and/or graphic) display device of limited re ...

departure and arrival screens and timetable poster boards. There is currently a small car park on-site. Outside the station, there is a bus stop where the local 537, 721, 734& 755 call.

Services

Since 15 May 2022, the following weekday services call at this station: *

Line 3 between and , with up to one train every two hours, and one extra train during the peak hours.

Station layout

References

External links

Acharnes railway station - National Railway Network
''Greek Travel Pages'' {{Athens Suburban Railway navbox Acharnes Attica Buildings and structures in Attica Transport in Attica Railway stations in Attica Railway stations opened in 1904