Connection to the Neo Ikonio freight port

Description

The project comprises the construction of a new single railway track of standard gauge (1.435 m), the start of which (ch. 0+000) lies at the western boundary of the port of Neo Ikonio within the property zone of the Piraeus Port Authority, at the site of the planned quayside railway station (Perama area), and the end of which connects with the new Athens–Corinth railway axis, which then passes through the Thriasio Pedio area. The line will be used only by freight trains and will connect the port of Neo Ikonio with the rest of the railway network at the Thriasio Pedio complex, where railway and freight activities are to be concentrated. More specifically, the project includes: (a) the construction of the substructure works for the new railway line, which is divided into the following sections: (i) the section from KM 0.6 to KM 6.0, 5.4 km in length (ii) the section from KM 6.0 to KM 17.1, 11.1 km in length. At its end this section connects with the new Athens – Corinth high-speed railway line and, via that line, leads to Thriasio Pedio. (b) the completion of the expropriations required for the line (c) the construction of the superstructure along the total length of the new single railway track of 17.1 km, as well as of the tracks of the quayside station with the necessary installations, and of the access track to the Car Servicing Station. (d) the installation of signalling, remote control and telecommunications along the entire section. Technical characteristics: Length of section: 17 km Design speed: 90 km/h Tunnels: 7 tunnels with a total length of approximately 7,000 m Cut & Cover: 2 Cut & Cover structures with a total length of approximately 800 m Railway bridges: 7 with a total length of approximately 1,100 m Grade-separated crossings: 4 with a total length of 90 m Through the railway connection with the freight port of Piraeus at Neo Ikonio, it will be possible for goods — a very high proportion of which are imported into Greece by sea through the port — to be forwarded by train to their final destinations across the country or, conversely, for Greek products to be carried by train to the port of Piraeus for export or for onward shipment to the Aegean islands, thereby contributing to the development of combined freight transport. In the long term, taking into account the trends towards a drastic increase in the size of vessels carrying containers and cars from the Far East — an increase in size accompanied by a trend towards the concentration of distribution hubs in only a few ports across the Mediterranean — the railway connection of the port of Piraeus (which has the credentials to play the role of such a distribution hub) may be extended beyond the country's northern borders. The above project will therefore achieve a significant increase in rail transport volumes (reversing the negative trends of recent years), largely arising from the diversion of corresponding traffic from road vehicles, with all the advantages this entails in terms of energy consumption, environmental management, accidents in the transport sector, etc.