The railway from Athens Airport to Patras is a

double-track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

standard-gauge railway A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

line in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

that, when completed, will connect

Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' , commonly initialised as AIA, is the largest international airport in Greece, serving the city of Athens and region of Attica. It began operation on 28 March 2001 (in time for the 2004 Su ...

with

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

, the country's third-largest city. One of the largest railway projects of the last 30 years in Greece, its completion is of major significance for the infrastructure of the entire region of the northern

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

. , the line is completed until the city of

Aigio Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' (, ; ), is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the mun ...

. A 5.2 km underground section is planned for the final section from Kastellokampos to Agios Andreas in Patras, terminating at the new port of Patras. For most of the section between Athens Airport in

East Attica East Attica () is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the eastern part of the urban agglomeration of Athens, and also the rural area to its east. Administration The regional unit East ...

and

Mandra Mandra (), is a town and former municipality in West Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Mandra-Eidyllia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 205.770&n ...

West Attica West Attica () is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the western part of the agglomeration of Athens, and the area to its west. Administration The regional unit West Attica is subdivi ...

, the line runs along the

median strip A median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, controlled-access highway, freeways, and moto ...

of the

Attiki Odos Attiki Odos () (''Attica Road'') is a toll motorway system in Greece. The Attiki Odos motorways form the outer beltways of the Athens, Greater Athens metropolitan area. The total length of the motorways is . The Attiki Odos system currently cons ...

motorway.

Course

Main stations

The main stations on the Athens Airport–Patras railway are: *

Athens Airport Station Athens Airport (, ), also known as Athens International Airport (, ) on signage, is a railway station and metro station that serves the international airport of Athens, Greece. It operates on both the Athens Suburban Railway as well as Line 3 o ...

Acharnes Railway Center The Acharnes Railway Center () or SKA is a two-level railway station in the northern parts of the Athens agglomeration, in the suburb of Acharnes, where several important railway lines converge. It is an important passenger interchange station ...

(Interchange with the Athens-Thessaloniki Railway) *

Ano Liosia railway station Ano Liosia () is a train station in Ano Liosia, a western suburb in the municipality of Fyli, West Attica, Attica, Greece. It is located in the median strip of the Attiki Odos motorway, and has a single island platform. The station is the wester ...

Megara railway station Megara railway station () is a Railway station, station in the city of Megara, West Attica, Greece. It is located east of Megara, near the A8 motorway (Greece), A8 motorway between Athens and Patras. It was opened on 27 September 2005 as part of ...

Corinth railway station Corinth railway station () is a station in Corinth in the northern Peloponnese, Greece. It was opened on 27 September 2005, replacing an older station near the harbour. The new station is located from the town centre on the outskirts of the c ...

* Kiato railway station * Aigio railway station

Services

, the Athens Airport–Patras railway is used by the following passenger services, all part of the

Athens Suburban Railway The Athens Suburban Railway (), officially the Athens Suburban and Regional Railway, is a commuter rail service that connects the city of Athens and its metropolitan area with other places in Attica, Boeotia, Corinthia and the city of Chalcis in ...

(''Proastiakos'') network: * Line 1:

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

–

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

–

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

(also uses the Athens-Thessaloniki Railway) * Line 2: Piraeus–Athens–

Kiato Kiato () is a town in the northern part of Corinthia in the Peloponnese, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of Sikyona. Kiato is situated on the Gulf of Corinth, near the mouth of the river Asopos. It has much tourist activity mainly in ...

(also uses the Athens-Thessaloniki Railway) * Line 4:

Ano Liosia Ano Liosia () is a town and a former municipality in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Fyli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal un ...

–

Koropi Koropi (, ) is a suburban town in East Attica, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality Kropia. It has been home to the new training facilities of Panathinaikos football club since the summer of 2013. Geography Koropi is situated east of the ...

–Airport * Line 5:

–Kiato–Athens/Airport

Future

As part of the P.A.Th.E./P. project, the line is being extended to

. The remaining part from Rio to Patras will be partly underground with a terminus in the new harbour. The existing train station of Patras will get a new function in a new recreational space. The electrification of the Kiato–Aigio section will allow direct services to and from Athens, as passengers must currently change between

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

trains at Kiato. On the south-eastern side, the line will be prolonged up to

Lavrio Lavrio, Lavrion or Laurium (; (later ); from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greece. It is part of Athens metropolitan area and the seat of the municipality of Lavreotiki ...

and

Rafina Rafina () is a suburban port town located on the eastern coast of Attica in Greece. It has a population of 14,620 inhabitants (2021 census). Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rafina-Pikermi, of which it is the ...

. A tender note has been published by ERGOSE SA, with Jan 14th 2022 deadline.

Gallery

File:SUBURBAN TRAIN ON ATHENS AIRPORT - panoramio.jpg,

(2015) File:Pallini metro and suburban railway station.jpg, View from

Pallini station Pallini () is a station located in the median strip of the Attiki Odos motorway west of the suburb of Pallini in East Attica. This station first opened to Athens Suburban Railway trains on 30 July 2004, with Athens Metro services calling at this ...

(2008) File:Attica 06-13 Ano Liosia train station.jpg,

(2013) File:Kiato suburban railway station 3.JPG, Kiato railway station (2011) File:Aigio railway station view from nearest overpass.jpg, Aigio railway station (2019)

References

External links

OSETrainose
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athens Airport-Kiato railway Railway lines in Greece Standard-gauge railways in Greece Railway lines opened in 2005 Railway lines in highway medians