Karditsa railway station ( el, Σιδηροδρομικός σταθμός Καρδίτσας, Sidirodromikós stathmós Karditsa) is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

that serves the city of

Karditsa Karditsa ( el, Καρδίτσα ) is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit of region of Thessaly. Inhabitation is attested from 9000 BC. Karditsa ls linked with GR-30, the ...

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

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 ...

. Located south of the centre of Karditsa, the station opened by the

Thessaly Railways Thessaly Railways ( el, Σιδηρόδρομοι Θεσσαλίας) was a railway company in Greece, which owned and operated the metre gauge railway network of Thessaly and Pelion railway from 1884 to 1955, when the company was absorbed by the H ...

, (now part of OSE). Today

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 ...

operates 11 daily Regional trains between

Kalambaka Kalabaka ( el, Καλαμπάκα, ''Kalabáka'', alternative transliterations are ''Kalambaka'' and ''Kalampaka'') is a town and seat of the municipality of Meteora in the Trikala regional unit, part of Thessaly in Greece. The population was ...

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 ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

and Palaiofarsalos.

History

The station open 16 June 1886 by the

. The original station building (and the line) was designed by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Evaristo de Chirico Evaristo is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name: * Evaristo Avalos (born 1933), Mexican equestrian * Evaristo Barrera (1911–1982), Argentine football striker * Evaristo Baschenis (1617–1677), Ital ...

, (father of

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

), however, this building was removed and replaced with a newer building some years later. The line was authorised by the Greek government under the law AMH’/22.6.1882. soon after the liberation of

Central Greece Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...

from the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Greek state planned the ambitious construction of several new rail lines and links, including a standard gauge line from

on to

Kozani Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmona ...

and then

Veroia Veria ( el, Βέροια or Βέρροια), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Berea or Berœa, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of I ...

creating a conversion of the route from

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

(though Karditsa) on standard gauge. In 1927, the relevant decisions were made; starting in 1928, work was carried out on the construction of the new line from Kalambaka. But a year later, it was clear that the project would exceed the estimated costs many times over. In 1932, the construction work was stopped and remains unfinished. In 1955

was absorbed into

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). 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, especially on the mainline section and between Karditsa and Kalampaka. In 2001 the section between Kalampaka and Palaiofarsalos was converted from Narrow gauge (1000 mm) to standard gauge (1435 mm) and physically connected at Palaiofarsalos with the mainline from Athens to Thessaloniki. Since to upgrade; however, travel times improved and the unification of rail gauge allowed direct services, even InterCity services, to link

and

with

and

. 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 2005, TrainOSE was created as a brand within OSE to concentrate on rail services and passenger interface. 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 cut back and routes closed as the government-run entity attempted to reduce overheads. In 2015 a 15-year-old child was airlifted to hospital after being electrocuted at the station. 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. In July 2022, the station began being served by

Hellenic Train 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 ...

, the rebranded TranOSE

Facilities

The Station has waiting rooms on platform 1. There is a footbridge via stairs or lift from platform 1 to platform 2/3. The station is staffed, with ticket purchasing facilities and toilets, with Luggage storage available.

Services

The station is currently served by Regional trains between

and

, with up to six trains daily in each direction.

Station layout

Gallery

File:Karditsa train station stamp.png, Karditsa train station stamp 1950 File:03 429 Bf Karditsa, 4203 (›Meterspur-SVT‹), Personenwagen.jpg, The station before its conversion to standard gauge September 1990 File:J26 417 Bf Kardítsa.jpg, The station approaches, looking east towards Sofades May 2016

External links

* https://www.gtp.gr/TDirectoryDetails.asp?id=77318&lng=2

References

{{Reflist Karditsa Transport in Karditsa (regional unit) Railway stations in Thessaly Railway stations opened in 1886 Buildings and structures in Karditsa (regional unit) Thessaly Railways