Athens railway station


Athens railway station is the main railway station of Athens, the capital city of Greece, and the largest station of the country. It is located in the central quarter of Kolonos. It resulted from the merger of the city's two main railway terminals, the Larissa Station of the Piraeus–Platy railway line towards central and northern Greece, and of the Peloponnese Station of the Piraeus–Patras railway line linking Athens with the southern Peloponnese peninsula. The station is still colloquially known as "Larissa Station", which is also the name of a Metro station there.

History

Inaugurated on 29 June 1904, the station was named after the city of Larissa, as the southern terminal of the line to the Thessalian city and Thessaloniki. The older adjacent station, Stathmós Peloponnísou, was inaugurated on 30 June 1884, named after the Peloponnese peninsula due to its services to the region. Closed on 7 August 2005, along with the Piraeus-Agioi Anargyroi line, its activities since then moved to the Stathmos Larissis. Regarding the metro station, part of the Line 2, it is an underground stop inaugurated on 28 January 2000. On 4 June 2017 the last service departed the un-modernized section of the Athens railway station, having been closed for modernization that took over the Peloponese railway station.

Structure

Larissa Station has a large, two-floor building in front of a square Domokou avenue, in which there are some platforms for bus services. Currently in use are 3 platforms and 4 tracks.
The whole station is under reconstruction for modernization and enlargement: the station will be improved with 12 tracks and 7 platforms and the line electrified. Construction of the new platforms and tracks, located where the goods yard of Peloponnese station was, is complete.

Services

The station is served by Line 2 of the Athens Metro and by three Proastiakos suburban services: Piraeus–Athens Airport, Piraeus–Kiato and Athens–Chalcis. It also serves as the terminus for the regional service to Leianokladi, the express service to Kalambaka and the InterCity service to Thessaloniki.
During the twentieth century, especially in the first half, Athens station was the terminus for some international trains, such as an Express to Berlin or the "Arlberg" route of the Orient Express, in service until 1962 and then of the Direct Orient Express until 1976.

Future

Being under construction since 2005 and having faced lots of delays, the station's expansion promises to significantly increase its capacity and increase the number of platforms.

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