Athens railway station

Athens railway station (Greek: Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Αθηνών, romanized: Sidirodromikós Stathmós Athinón) is the main railway station of Athens, and the largest station in Greece. Located in the central quarter of Kolonos, it resulted from the merger of the city's two main railway terminals—the Larissa Station (Σταθμός Λαρίσης, Stathmós Larísis) of the Piraeus–Platy railway towards central and northern Greece, and the Peloponnese Station (Σταθμός Πελοποννήσου, Stathmós Peloponnísou) of the Piraeus–Patras railway linking Athens with the Peloponnese. It is still colloquially known as Larissa Station,[1] which is also the name of the adjacent Metro station.

Αθήνα Athens
View of the station building, January 2019
Location	Domokou Avenue, Kolonos Athens, Greece
Coordinates	37°59′32.24″N 23°43′14″E
Owned by	OSE
Line(s)	InterCity Express   InterCity   Express   Regional Piraeus–Platy railway
Platforms	6 (3 operational)
Tracks	10 (4 operational)
Train operators	TrainOSE
Connections
Construction
Platform levels	2
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	No
Disabled access
Other information
Status	Staffed
Website	https://www.ose.gr/en/
History
Opened	8 March 1904
Electrified	25 kV AC, 50 Hz
Services
Preceding station   Athens Metro   Following station Attiki towards Anthoupoli Line 2 Metaxourghio towards Elliniko Preceding station   Proastiakos   Following station Rouf towards Piraeus Line 1 Agioi Anargyroi towards Airport Line 2 Agioi Anargyroi towards Kiato Terminus Line 3 Agioi Anargyroi towards Chalcis Ano Liosia towards Aigio Line 5 Terminus Megara towards Aigio Line 5 Preceding station   TrainOSE   Following station Terminus Regional Acharnes (SKA) toward Leianokladi Express Acharnes (SKA) toward Kalambaka InterCity Acharnes (SKA) toward Thessaloniki InterCity Express Thebes toward Thessaloniki
Location
Αθήνα Athens Location within West Athens

Line structure
to SKA/Thessaloniki to Piraeus

History

Inaugurated in 1904, the station was named after the city of Larissa, then the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Greece and the one nearest the northern terminus of the standard-gauge Piraeus–Papapouli railway.[1] The adjacent Peloponnese Station (37°59′22.6″N 23°43′9.52″E), inaugurated on 30 June 1884, was served by the metre-gauge Piraeus–Patras railway to the Peloponnese. Closed on 7 August 2005, along with the metre-gauge line between Piraeus and Agioi Anargyroi, its services were transferred to Larissa Station upon the opening of the Proastiakos line to Corinth on 27 September 2005.[2][3] The final service departed the unmodernized Larissa Station on 4 June 2017, before it was closed for various upgrades including the installation of a railway electrification system.[4] The upgraded station was reopened on 30 July 2017.[5] The Athens Metro station, inaugurated on 28 January 2000, lies underground and is served by Line 2 between Anthoupoli and Elliniko.

Structure

The station comprises a large, two-floor building in central Athens. Three platforms and four tracks are currently in use. A second phase of upgrades is underway, including the construction of new tracks and platforms, a central underpass connecting all platforms and the metro station, additional pedestrian underpasses and overpasses, building restoration works and an overhaul of road traffic surrounding the station.[6] In the meantime, trains will continue to use the platforms and tracks built during the previous upgrade, located where the goods yard of the old Peloponnese Station once stood.[7]

Services

Departures board at Athens Central station, showing different types of passenger Services

The station is served by Line 2 of the Athens Metro and by four Proastiakos (suburban) services: Piraeus–Athens Airport, Piraeus–Kiato, Athens–Chalcis and Aigio–Athens. It also serves as the terminus for the regional service to Leianokladi, the express service to Kalambaka and the InterCity/InterCity Express 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 (departing from the former Anhalter Bahnhof) or the "Arlberg"[8] route of the Orient Express (London-Athens via Paris-Zürich-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Skopje), in service until 1962 and then of the Direct Orient Express (Paris-Lausanne-Venice-Ljubljana-Zagreb-Belgrade-Skopje) until 1976.[9]

Gallery

• 
  View of the station in 1979.
• 
  A Proastiakos DMU at the station in 2005, before electrification in 2017.
• 
  An Alstom first-generation EMU at the metro station in 2010.
• 
  The heritage-listed Peloponnese Station building in 2007.

See also

• New Thessaloniki Railway Station

References

1. "«Larissa Station», or Athens Railway Station". Athens: TrainOSE. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
2. "Athens Guide: Trains in Greece". www.athensguide.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
3. "Σε μία ώρα στην Κόρινθο από αύριο ο Προαστιακός". Naftemporiki (in Greek). Athens. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
4. "Electrification of 3 Gefires – Piraeus". ERGOSE. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
5. "Δελτίο Τύπου 28/07/2017 - Νέος χάρτης γραμμών και δρομολογίων στον Προαστιακό Σιδηρόδρομο Αθήνας από την Κυριακή 30 Ιουλίου 2017" (in Greek). TrainOSE. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
6. "Completion of Athens Railway station upgrading – Phase B". ERGOSE. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
7. "Μεταμορφώθηκε ο Σταθμός Λαρίσης με τις νέες Αποβάθρες". Ypodomes.com (in Greek). 7 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
8. See map on Commons
9. "Darstaed TP - gauge '0' tin plate trains - Your stop for a ride through the past". www.darstaed.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.

External links

Media related to Athens Larissa Station at Wikimedia Commons