Press release
Athens, 22 February 2023
Technical presentation of the new line “Thessaloniki – Nea Karvali – Toxotes” by ERGOSE
Athens, 22 February 2023 – The planning of the new generation of railway projects being implemented by ERGOSE is proceeding rapidly, aiming at the substantial upgrade of the national railway network and the transformation of the country into a logistics hub. Northern Greece is at the heart of this planning, with projects that will interconnect the so-called critical infrastructure – ports, airports, freight terminals and industrial areas – with the rail network.
In this context, technical meetings were held today at the offices of the Region of Eastern Macedonia-Thrace in Kavala, with the participation of ERGOSE executives and local stakeholders of Northern Greece, following the preparatory work that began last summer. The subject of the meetings was the presentation of the studies for the construction of the new railway line connecting Thessaloniki with Toxotes. The tender budget of the project amounts to € 1.68 billion and its completion will give the required development impetus to the capital city and the entire Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
The technical studies include a description of the infrastructure and superstructure works, as well as the additional works that will be required for their effective implementation.
The construction of the new railway line Thessaloniki – Toxotes, part of the Eastern Railway Egnatia, will connect Thessaloniki with the port of Kavala and Xanthi and further north with Alexandroupolis and Ormenio. At the same time, it will serve the implementation of the connection of the ports of Northern Greece with the ports of Bulgaria in the Black Sea region (Burgas – Varna – Rousset), in the framework of the transnational project between Greece and Bulgaria “Sea2Sea”.
With the construction of the project, 206 km of new railway line, with signalling and electrification, will be put into operation, thus completing the railway corridor connecting Thessaloniki and Kavala.
At the same time, it will connect the port of Nea Karvali, which is under development, crossing the eastern part of the prefecture of Kavala and will end up in the wider area of Toxotes Xanthi, where it will be connected to the rest of the OSE network. The new line is estimated to reduce the Thessaloniki-Alexandroupolis route by at least 3 hours.
After the meetings, the President and CEO of ERGOSE, Mr. Christos Vinis, said, “Kavala, but also the whole of Northern Greece, is at the heart of ERGOSE’s planning for a series of new generation railway projects, which will interconnect the so-called critical infrastructure with the main railway network. Each of these projects, and all of them together in synergy, introduce the country into a new era of modern passenger and freight transport and growth potential. Our main concern at ERGOSE is to provide Northern Greece with a modern, reliable and safe rail network, not only to boost local development, but to transform the region and the entire country into an international logistics hub.”
For more information you can contact the following contact details:
Tel: 210 5283 492
Email: info@ergose.gr
About ERGOSE:
ERGOSE S.A. was established in 1996 as a subsidiary of OSE and belongs to the public utilities. The company’s mission is to complete a modern railway network that will constitute an important development pillar for the Greek economy and society, contributing to the safety and speed of transport of people, goods and freight. In this context, ERGOSE S.A. currently manages the modernization projects of the railway lines and facilities of OSE co-financed by the Operational Programmes of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2014-2020 from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) 2014-2020 as well as projects with purely national funding that are necessary to complete the investments of the co-financed programmes. The company currently employs more than 200 experienced and highly qualified staff, while it has been providing its services for more than two decades, responding effectively and reliably to the implementation of projects through its excellent organization, structure and systems.
