Kalambaka railway station


Kalambaka railway station is the main railway station in Kalambaka, in the Trikala regional unit, Thessaly. Opened on 16 June 1886 by the Thessaly Railways. Today TrainOSE oporates both regional and intercity services to desanations across Greece. It is currently the most northwesterly part of the Greek railway network in operation.

History

The station open 16 June 1886 by the Thessaly Railways.
After the First World War, the Greek state planned the ambitious construction of several new rail lines and links, including a standard gauge line from Kalambaka on to Kozani and then Veroia creating a conversion of the route from Volos to Kalambaka on standard gauge. In 1927, the relevant decisions were made, starting in 1928, work was carried out on the construction of the new line from Kalambaka. But a year later, it was clear that the project would exceed the estimated costs many times over. In 1932, the construction work was stopped and remains unfinished.
Freight traffic declined sharply when the state-imposed monopoly of OSE for the transport of agricultural products and fertilisers ended in the early 1990s. Many small stations of the network with little passenger traffic were closed down, especially on the mainline section and between Karditsa and Kalampaka. In 2001 the section between Kalampaka and Palaiofarsalos was converted from Narrow gauge to standard gauge and physically connected at Palaiofarsalos with the mainline from Athens to Thessaloniki. Since to upgrade, however, travel times improved and the unification of rail gauge allowed direct services, even InterCity services, to link Volos and Kalambaka with Athens and Thessaloniki.
In modern Greek, MP is transliterated as B, not as MB and not as MP. That shows on the station sign, and also on beer labels.

Facilities

The Station has waiting rooms on platform 1. There is a footbridge from platform 1 to platform 2, via stairs or lift. Luggage storage is no longer available, however the station is staffed, with ticket purchasing facilities.

Services

Today, the station is served by direct lines to the rest of Greece, via Palaiofarsalos, served both by intercity trains to Athens, Larissa and Thessaloniki and Proastiakos to Athens. Previously Thessaly Railways operated a narrow gauge service to Volos.
In August 2009 TrainOSE S.A. proceeded to a drastic cutback of passenger services on Thessaly lines. As of Spring 2020 There are ten Regional services on Palaiofarsalos-Kalambaka Line. In addition, there is one Regional train to Athens from Kalambaka and back.

Future plans

An extension towards Ioannina and Igoumenitsa has been discussed, but a more northern line from Thessaloniki is currently the preferred trajectory of the so-called Egnatia Railway. However, as of 2020 large investments are unlikely, given the prolonged Greek government-debt crisis.

Station layout