Transport in Greece

Economy of Greece
Overview
Agriculture Banking (Bank of Greece, National Bank of Greece, list) Communications Companies Energy Industry Ports Shipping Stock Exchange (companies listed) Tourism Transport
History
Economic history of Greece and the Greek world Greek economic miracle Greek debt crisis
Related
Brands International rankings Thessaloniki International Fair
Greece portal

Transport in Greece have undergone significant changes in the past two decades, vastly modernizing the country's infrastructure and transportation. Although ferry transport between islands remains the prominent method of transport between the nation's islands, improvements to the road infrastructure, rail, urban transport, and airports have all led to a vast improvement in transportation. These upgrades have played a key role in supporting Greece's economy, which in the past decade has come to rely heavily on the construction industry.

Rail transport

Railways

• total: 2,571 km (1,598 mi), (764 km or 475 mi are, or will be, electrified)
• standard gauge: 1,565 km (972 mi) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) gauge
• narrow gauge: 961 km (597 mi) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) gauge; 22 km (14 mi) 750 mm (2 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in) gauge
• dual gauge: 23 km (14 mi) combined 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) gauges (three rail system) (2004)

The state owned company that owns and maintains Greece's railway network is called OSE, while TrainOSE is the company responsible for operating all passenger and freight trains.

Metro

Cities with a rapid transit railway network:

• Athens - Athens Metro (3 lines)
• Thessaloniki - Thessaloniki Metro (2 lines) (under construction)

Commuter Rail

Cities with a commuter rail network (Proastiakos):

• Athens (4 lines)
• Thessaloniki (2 lines)
• Patras (1 line)

Tram

• Athens Tram
• List of town tramway systems in Greece

Road transport

Highways

• As of 2017, Greece has 2500 km of motorways.

Roads:

• total: 117,000 km
• paved: 107,406 km
• unpaved: 9,594 km (1996 est.)
• over 2500 tunnels (est.)

Bus transport

Urban bus transport

• OSY subsidiary of OASA organizes mass bus (Busses and trolleybuses) transit in Athens
• OASTH organizes mass bus transit in Thessaloniki.
• Companies named Astiko KTEL provide mass bus transit in many of the other cities of Greece.

Intercity and regional bus transport

KTEL is the common name for every company which is responsible for intercity and regional bus transit. Most of the regional units, though, have their own regional network of buses, and have their regional unit names labeled on KTEL vehicles that operate there. (e.g. KTEL Argolidas).

Water transport

Waterways

The 80 km system consists of three coastal canals including the Corinth Canal (6 km) and three unconnected rivers.

The Corinth Canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth, connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf; and shortens the sea voyage from the Adriatic to Piraeus by 325 km.

Ports and harbours

• Alexandroupoli
• Argostoli
• Elefsina
• Ermoupolis
• Heraklion, Crete
• Kalamata
• Kavala
• Kerkyra
• Kos
• Chalkis
• Igoumenitsa
• Lavrio
• Patras
• Piraeus
• Port of Thessaloniki
• Volos
• Katakolo
• Mykonos
• Mytilene
• Rhodes (city)
• Souda
• Syros

Merchant Marine

• total: 3,338 ships (with a volume of 1,000 gross tonnage (GT) or over) totaling 109,377,819 GT/182,540,868 tonnes deadweight (DWT)[1]
• ships by type (1999 est.)

• bulk carrier: 273
• cargo ship: 60
• chemical tanker: 22
• combination bulk: 5
• combination ore/oil: 8
• container ship: 43
• Liquified Gas Carrier: 5
• multi-functional large load carrier: 1
• passenger ship: 12
• passenger/cargo: 2
• petroleum tanker: 245
• refrigerated cargo: 3
• roll-on/roll-off ship: 19
• short-sea passenger: 75
• specialized tanker: 4
• vehicle carrier: 2

Airports

• total: 82 (2005)
• With paved runways: 67

• over 3,047 m: 5
• 2,438 to 3,047 m: 16
• 1,524 to 2,437 m: 19
• 914 to 1,523 m: 17

under 914 m: 10 (2005)

• With unpaved runways: 15

• 914 to 1,523 m: 3
• under 914 m: 12 (2005)

• heliports: 8 (2005)

Pipelines

• crude oil: 26 km
• petroleum products: 547 km

Major Construction Projects

Completed Projects

Motorways

• Egnatia Odos 670 km (420 mi)
  • Motorway 25
  • Motorway 29 77 km (48 mi)
• Ionia Odos "196 km (122 mi)"
• Motorway 1 (ATHE) 550 km (340 mi)
• Attiki Odos 69.7 km (43.3 mi)
• Moreas Motorway 205 km (127 mi)
• Olympia Odos 210 km (130 mi)
• Rio–Antirrio bridge 2,880 metre long (9,449 ft) (2nd longest cable bridge in Europe

Railways

• Piraeus–Platy railway
• Athens Airport–Kiato railway
• Thessaloniki–Alexandroupoli railway
• Athens Metro

• Line 1 (Athens Metro)
• Line 2 (Athens Metro)
• Line 3 (Athens Metro)

• Athens Tram

Ports and harbours

Airports

• Athens International Airport

Projects under construction

Motorways

• Central Greece Motorway
• North Road Axis of Crete
• Branches of Egnatia Odos

• Motorway 21
• Motorway 27

• Motorway 71

Railways

• electrification and building double track on sections of Piraeus–Platy railway
• Line 3 (Athens Metro) extension to Piraeus
• Line 4 (Athens Metro)
• Thessaloniki Metro
• Athens Tram extension to Piraeus

Ports and harbours

Airports

Future projects

Motorways

• Larisa-Kozane Motorway

Railways

• Kiato-Patras standard gauge railway
• Line 4 (Athens Metro)
• Igoumenitsa-Ioannina-Kalampaka Railway line
• Kalampaka-Kastoria Railway line
• Florina-Pogradec Railway line
• Kalampaka-Kozani-Thessaloniki-Kavala-Toxotes Railway line
• Ioannina-Rio Railway line
• Thessaloniki-Chalkidiki Railway line
• Thessaloniki-Giannitsa-Skydra Railway line
• Chania-Rethymnon-Herakleion Railway line
• Thessaloniki Tram
• Heraklion Tram
• Patras Tram
• Larisa Tram
• Ioannina Tram
• Volos Tram

Airports

• New Heraklion Airport in Kasteli

See also

• Rapid transit in Greece
• Greek shipping

References

•  This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website [www.cia.gov].

External links

• www.Greek-Motorway.Net
• The Hellenic Merchant Maritime Sector: A Historical and Business Overview (Balkanalysis.com)