ATHENS AIRPORT LINE
Posted on 01 November 2009 by Railways Africa Editor
The section of Attiko metro Line 3 between Ethniki Amyna and Athens airport is back in service, and the new Nomismatokopeio station has opened to the public. Providing interchange facilities with several bus routes serving the Mesogia area, it features an underground car park and is expected to handle more than 60,000 daily users.
The eastern stretch of Line 3 was closed on 13 February to allow for the construction of three stations – Holargos, Nomismatokopeio and Agia Paraskevi – in the section between Ethniki Amyna and Plakentias. Though included in the original design, they were not completed due to pressure to complete the metro in time for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. The boxes for the first two stations were constructed during tunnelling to facilitate future fitting out, but Agia Paraskevi station had to be built from scratch.
In the intervening months the suburban railway absorbed some passenger movements to and from the airport, but most of the traffic was transferred to buses.
Test runs from Ethniki Amyna to the airport restarted on 23 August, without passengers. The metro trains use the 21km OSE suburban line between Plakentias and the airport. Following OSE authorisation their speed limit has been increased from 80km/h to 100, reducing the time taken to cover the distance from 24 minutes to 19.
According to Attiko Metro, Holargos station will be opened by the end of the year and Agia Paraskevi will follow in spring 2010.
Related posts:
- AIRPORT LINE – KOLKATA
- VANCOUVER AIRPORT LINE OPENS
- QATAR AIRPORT LINE
- GLASGOW AIRPORT LINE SCRAPPED
- GAUTRAIN’S AIRPORT TRAINS
- RAS AL-KHAIMAH AIRPORT LINE
- SANDTON TRANSFERS FOR AIRPORT PASSENGERS
