Transport minister checks progress of Athens metro extension
Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras and his deputy, Nikos Tachiaos, visited the Katechaki and Veikou tunnel boring sites on the under-construction Line 4 of the Athens Metro on Monday and confirmed that the first section of the extension is expected to be completed by 2030.
The Katechaki tunnel boring machine (TBM) used to create the new line has so far dug through 840 meters (0.52 miles), while the second TBM, assembled in February, recently commenced operations at the Veikou site.
The first stage of the new line will have a total length of 12.8 kilometers (8 miles) and is expected to serve an estimated 340,000 passengers on a daily basis. Shaped like a U, it will run from Galatsi, just north of the city center, to Goudi in the east, with a total of 15 stations, and will intersect metro Line 3 (blue) at Evangelismos station.
In the future, it will also intersect with Katechaki station on Line 3 and with Perissos and Maroussi on Line 1 (green), before heading north towards Lykovrysi.
A separate branch of the line will head south from the center’s Pangrati area towards Ilioupoli, running east and parallel to metro Line 2 (red).
According to Tachiaos, trains on the new line will be fully automated and driverless.
The ministry further expects that the opening of the new line by the end of the decade will further reduce the number of cars on the capital’s streets by 53,000, slashing carbon emissions by an estimated 17,000 tons per year.
