Olympia railway station ( el, Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Ολυμπίας, Sidirodromikós stathmós Olympia) 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 town of

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

Western Greece Western Greece Region ( el, Περιφέρεια Δυτικής Ελλάδας, translit=Periféria Dhitikís Elládhas, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of continental Greece and the northw ...

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 in the centre of Olympia, the station was opened in 1891 by the Pyrgos-Katakolo Railway Company (SPK), (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 3 daily scheduled Regional trains to

Katakolo Katakolo ( el, Κατάκολο) is a seaside town in the municipality of Pyrgos in western Elis, Greece. It is situated on a headland overlooking the Ionian Sea and separating the Gulf of Kyparissia from the rest of the Ionian. It is west of Pyr ...

, via Pyrgos. The station is unstaffed however there are waiting rooms available. Olympia station is close to

Ancient Olympia Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ολυμπία ; grc, Ὀλυμπία ), officially Archaia Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Αρχαία Ολυμπία; grc, Ἀρχαία Ὀλυμπία, links=no; "Ancient Olympia"), is a small town in E ...

History

The station opened in 1891, when the

Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways or SPAP ( el, Σιδηρόδρομοι Πειραιώς-Αθηνών-Πελοποννήσου "Siderodromi Pireos Athinon Peloponisou" or Σ.Π.Α.Π. (S.P.A.P.); french: Chemin de fer du Pirée-Athènes-Pe ...

(S.P.A.P.) line was extended to

. In 1951 the S.P.A.P. absorbed the Line. In 1953 the S.P.A.P. itself was absorbed into the Northwestern Greece Railways (SDBE). In 1962 the station became part 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). In 1970 OSE became the legal successor to the SEK, taking over responsibilities for most of Greece's rail infrastructure taking over responsibilities for most for 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. 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 2005, TrainOSE was created as a brand within OSE to concentrate on rail services and passenger interface. Between 2007 and 2009, the entire rails and cog sections were completely replaced, and four new modern trains were constructed to replace the former carriages. 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. In 2017 the station was refurbished.

Facilities

The station buildings have recently been repaired and upgraded. The signal platform has outside seating but no

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 or timetable poster boards for passenger information, and the station remains little more than an unstaffed halt.

Services

, the station is only served by three daily pairs of regional trains to

Station layout

References

External links

Olympia Station - National Railway Network
''Greek Travel Pages'' {{Authority control Railway stations in Western Greece Railway stations opened in 1891 Buildings and structures in Elis