ANA-MPA gets ‘sneak peek’ at Thessaloniki metro, ahead of the opening on November 30

After decades of discussion and years of planning and implementation, the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki is now literally just days away from getting its own metro system, which is opening for the public on November 30. Reporters from the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) got an advance look at the new underground before the official opening – as well as a chance to ride one of the 18 ultra-modern trains and illuminated escalators at some of its 13 stations – as feverish work was underway on the … finishing touches and polishing of the infrastructure.

“You can feel completely safe,” said Carlo Bianco, the CEO of Thema consortium, which will operate the metro system. Addressing potential passengers of the Thessaloniki metro worried about the fact that the system is driverless, he emphasised that the probability of a failure of the signalling system is estimated at once in 100,000 years, while noting that this not based on any best guess of his own, but on the results of calculations using the European Standards EN 50128 and EN 50129.
Bianco noted that unfortunate incidents in railway history were mostly due to human errors, and pointed out: “ Now, we have eliminated the drivers and replaced them with a signalling system that has been designed with the highest level of safety. It is this that, in the case of the Thessaloniki metro, replaces the train driver and for this reason, due to its design and operation, the possibility of an incident occurring is almost non-existent.”
“ You are completely safe, enjoy your trip on the ultra-modern Thessaloniki metro,” he noted and added: “ We currently operate six driverless lines in Milan and Copenhagen and we have never had any safety issues. The history of the driverless metro is 40 years old and to date, absolutely no incidents have been recorded.”
The THEMA consortium – which also includes ATM, which operates the 60-year-old Milan metro and the Copenhagen metro – has undertaken the operation and maintenance of the Thessaloniki metro for 11 years.

The main line of the metro will be in operation on November 30

“ What we say … is done and the main line of the Thessaloniki metro will be delivered on Novemvber 30 for use by the citizens and visitors of the city,” said the CEO of Hellenic Metro SA, Nikos Kouretas.
He added that in 14 days the metro will enter the life of Thessaloniki and citizens will be able to board and experience a different approach to their mode of transportation to and from the city centre. Kouretas noted that its main line is 9.8 km long, and has 13 stations: New Railway Station, Dimokratias, Venizelou, Agia Sophia, Sintrivani, Panepistimio, Papafi, Efklidis, Fleming, Analipsi, 25 Martiou, Voulgari and Nea Elvetia, as well as a 50,000 sq m depot, which includes the Operation Control Center, a repair base and office spaces.
Specifically for the control centre in Pylaia, which he called the “heart” of the ultra-modern metro system, he explained that from there, experts and scientists will control all the metro systems, infrastructure and trains daily on a 24-hour basis. “This is one of the most modern control centres in the world and there is also a backup centre, just in case,” he stressed.

From New Railway Station to Nea Elvetia in 17 minutes

The journey using a Thessaloniki metro train, going from one end of the city to the other, takes “17 minutes, including the stops,” Kouretas said, explaining that the trains will run at an average speed of 40 km/h and reach a maximum speed of 80 km/h. “So we understand that each passenger will need just 40 seconds to get from one station to the other,” he said.
The Thessaloniki metro is expected to carry approximately 254,000 passengers a day, while its transport capacity is 18,000 passengers per hour and per direction, according to Kouretas. With the addition of the Kalamaria extension, another 78,000 to 80,000 passengers/day will be added.
The initial 18 trains operating on the main line will at first run at intervals of 3.5 minutes, while this will gradually be reduced to an interval of 1.5 minutes as another 15 new trains serving the Kalamaria extension and its five new stops are added. He emphasised that all 18 trains on main line, which will operate without a driver, will be able to accommodate 465 people (sitting and standing), while they are 92% made of recyclable materials.
In addition to the greater speed at which someone will be able to cross the city of Thessaloniki underground, the operation of the metro is expected to also reduce the number of private vehicles in circulation by approximately 57,000, with a corresponding reduction of CO2 emissions, by 212 tons per day.
The cost of a ticket for the Thessaloniki metro has been set at 0.60 euros and each passenger can purchase it from the 104 ticket machines located at the stations, as well as from ticket offices, from which people will be able to obtain their own personalised travel card. Special categories of people, such as those with mobility problems, will travel free of charge.
The Thessaloniki metro will also be cyclist and pet “friendly”, as up to two bicycles are allowed to travel in the last carriage and animals are allowed to board, provided they are in an approved pet carrier available on the market.
Kouretas said that crews were now working feverishly to ensure that Nea Elvetia station is ready on time on November 30, while the Kalamaria extension is expected to be ready a year later, in October or November 2025.
Metro Deputy Director Nikolaos Denis, on his part, explained that the trains will be washed inside and out on a daily basis and he spoke of four innovations of the Thessaloniki metro, including the fact that it has no driver, that it has security doors on the right and left of the platform, that it has two separate single tunnels and a third line that isolates the current.
Regarding the differences with the Athens metro, he said that in the former there is a large tunnel with two lines in the middle and on the right and left are the platforms, while “ in the Thessaloniki metro things are completely the other way around. We have two small tunnels with a single track, which means that there will never be two trains side by side and the platforms are always in the centre.”
Referring to safety issues, Denis stressed that both inside the trains and at the stations, there are no blind spots, everything and everyone is monitored by the control centre, while the managers have taken care of the braking and the spinning of the trains. As he said, “ in each wagon, two plugs are placed on the floor, from which sand is sprayed onto the tracks every time the trains start and stop, in order to achieve better traction.”

Among other things, he mentioned that the Panepistimiou station is the deepest compared to all the others, at 37-40 meters, and the only one with three exits and entrances, while addressing the citizens he noted: “At the Hagia Sophia station, at both entrances, we have captured the levels at which Thessaloniki was built, which even at its founding in 316 BC was inhabited many meters deeper than today. In every era, from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times, to the most recent with the liberation of the city in 1912, the city was inhabited increasingly closer to the current level that we live in today.”

source:amna.gr