Cost of restoring Thessaly railway after deadly storm set to rise

The extensive restoration required to reopen the railway line in central Greece that was destroyed after a deadly storm last year will likely rise to 280-300 million euros from an initially estimated 200 million, sources from state-owned Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE), which is responsible for managing and maintaining the rail infrastructure, said.

The damage resulted in the suspension of the Athens-Thessaloniki railway connection, the busiest across a 2,500-km (1,550-mile) rail network, for at least three months, due to the disasters in the Domokos-Larissa section, while the railway routes in the Larissa-Volos and Palaiofarsalos-Kalambakas sections remain out of service.

Officials of the Ministry of Transport said in a recent press briefing that the exact figures are revised daily because the “element of resilience from disasters of this magnitude” is included in the planning of the infrastructure and superstructure.