The southern terminus of the Piraeus–Platy railway is at the harbour of Piraeus, where connections with ferries to several Greek islands exist. From Piraeus station, the line runs northeast towards the centre of Athens, where it crosses the main Athens railway station, commonly known as Larissa station. Continuing through the northern suburbs of Athens, the line runs to Agioi Anargyroi, where the old Peloponnese line branched off westwards. The narrow-gauge track is still in place from this point on. At Acharnes Railway Center, the main line connects with the Athens Airport–Patras railway, carrying the Proastiakos Athens services from Piraeus to Athens Airport and to Kiato in the Peloponnese. The main line continues northwards, climbs steadily towards Oinoi, through rural and wooded countryside, typical of northern Attica. There is a branch line from Oinoi to Chalcis. The works on the new double-track railway from Leianokladi to Domokos were completed in January 2019, while the railway electrification system was completed in April 2019. With the completion of the rebuilt Tithorea–Leianokladi–Domokos section, the Athens–Thessaloniki line is doubled and electrified along its entire length. The old single-track railway was noted for its spectacular mountain scenery between Bralos and Domokos. There is a 23 km branch line from Leianokladi passing through Lamia to Stylida. At Palaiofarsalos, an 80 km line to Karditsa, Trikala and Kalambaka branches off. There is also a metre-gauge railway to Velestino, which is no longer used commercially. At the Thessalian capital Larissa, there is a 61 km branch line to Volos. North of Larissa, the line passes through a tunnel at Tempe. The picturesque line adjacent to the coast near Platamon at the northern end of Tempe to Katerini is now abandoned, though still visible. This section of the line provided passengers with unique views towards the mountains and sea as the train travelled along the eastern slopes of Mount Olympus to Katerini. Platy, north of Athens and 48 km to the west of Thessaloniki, is the point where the nation's two largest cities were first linked by rail in 1916. Trains between the two commenced operations in 1918, with the first through train service from Athens to Paris linking up with the Orient Express, which was inaugurated in 1920. At Platy, the line from Piraeus connects with the line from Thessaloniki to Kozani, Amyntaio and Florina. Larissa and Thessaloniki have substantial marshalling yards for both goods and passenger trains. Journey time between Athens and Thessaloniki can vary depending on the type of train selected. The stopping service regular train service takes 4 hours and 23 minutes, while the Express takes 4 hours and 10 minutes. When the ERTMS updates along the entire railway corridor are completed in 2020, the whole trip will take an estimated 3 hours.
Stations
The main stations on the Piraeus–Platy railway are:
Some other stations of the line are Oinoi, Thebes, Livadeia, Tithorea, Leianokladi, Domokos and Palaiofarsalos.
History
Although a railway line from Athens to the north had been planned since 1883, the first section from Athens to Demerli was not opened until 1908. The two branch lines from Oinoi to Chalcis and from Lamia to Stylida were also opened in 1908. Subsequently, the line was extended towards the former Greek–Turkish border at Papapouli, between Larissa and Katerini. Finally in May 1916, the remaining section from Papapouli to Platy on the line from Thessaloniki to Monastir was opened. Major upgrades to the line had been planned since the late 1980s. The first upgrade was completed west of Oinoi in the early 1990s. In 1996, the Orfana bypass was opened. In November 2003, the Vale of Tempe line was abandoned in favour of a tunnel, and in 2004 the Tempe–Platamon–Katerini–Platy section was drastically shortened, leading to the abandonment of the picturesque route along the Aegean coast at Platamon. Between 2005 and 2010 several sections were upgraded in order to allow for higher speeds, notably the Oinoi–Tithorea, Domokos–Larissa, Evangelismos–Leptokarya and Aiginio–Thessaloniki sections. The Tithorea–Domokos section was reconstructed on a partly altered route, shortening it from 122 to 106 km in order to sustain high-speed railway requirements. It includes two tunnels—the 9.3 km Kallidromo Tunnel, which is the longest in the Balkans, and the 7 km Othrys Tunnel. Another upgrade is the reparation of the damaged electrification system of the section between Acharnes and Tithorea.
Services
The Piraeus–Platy railway is used by the following passenger services:
Intercity, Express and Regular services Athens–Thessaloniki, Athens–Kalampaka, Athens–Leianokladi and Thessaloniki–Kalampaka
Proastiakos services Athens–Chalcis and Thessaloniki–Larissa
