Christos Dimas announces the expansion of the Metro Thessaloniki and the delivery of 5 new stations to Kalamaria within the next term to decongest the city.
With aiming to improve travel and tackle traffic in Thessaloniki, the government is moving ahead with the next phase of the development of the fixed-track network, as five new stations of the Thessaloniki Metro to Kalamaria are scheduled to be opened in the coming months. As announced by Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Dimas, the project is expected to give substantial breath to the urban road network, significantly enhancing the daily movement of thousands of citizens and contributing to the gradual reduction of the use of automobiles in the city centre.
“Within the next three months we will open to traffic the next 5 stations” of the Thessaloniki metro said the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Dimas.
Next quarter the stations
Speaking to Action 24, he noted that “in Thessaloniki until 15 months ago we had a very intense problem with traffic.”
“Indeed, the operation of the metro has helped a great deal in decongesting and reducing the number of vehicles in the city centre,” said the Minister of Infrastructure, who cited data from the transport institute of the Ministry of Transport and Tourism, referring to a “15% reduction in the number of vehicles in the centre of Thessaloniki”.
“The Thessaloniki metro is one of the most modern in Europe and at the same time it is very beautiful. Venizelos station is a declared archaeological site the other stations are museums that highlight the cultural heritage. We have found the balance between the functionality of the metro and the highlighting of cultural heritage,” Dimas stressed, adding:
“Within the next three months we will open the next five stations up to Kalamaria. We expect that this will increase the number of metro users and reduce the volume of vehicles even more.” Dimas added that the measures of the traffic police and the local government will also contribute to the reduction of traffic.
The flyover is being built at an intensive pace
“At the moment we are over 50% of the physical object that has been built”, Christos Dimas stressed about the flyover in Thessaloniki and added that “we are proceeding at a very intensive pace”.
Noting that “the local community has embraced this project” he noted that this “will double the volume of vehicles that can be served from 5,000 to 10,000 which means that “it will help improve traffic flow in Thessaloniki”.
Triple junction at Skaramanga within three years
The completion within three years of the triple junction configuration works in the Skaramanga area was announced by Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Dimas.
He referred to a “very important new infrastructure” and noted that now “we have a contractor and we expect that within the next three years the project will be completed.”
“The first step is to sign the contract, to proceed with all the permits and studies required so that the contractor can do the work,” the minister noted, adding that upon completion of the works, Schistos Avenue will be connected to the western Aigaleo ring road, the highway and Attiki Odos.
In addition, Dimas added that the Schistos Bridge will have two lanes per direction of traffic while he stressed that a traffic light is being removed and overall “we will have a significant upgrade of infrastructure.”
Metamorphosis junction
Finally, he noted that “the project has already been studied and we have given the order to the concessionaire.”
In addition, the Minister of Infrastructure stressed that “within 2026 we will have completed a significant point intervention at the Metamorphosis junction”.
Describing the current situation at the point, he stressed that “cars coming from the direction of the airport on Attiki Odos and wanting to exit to the highway are forced to give priority to cars coming from Elefsina, with the result that we very often have intense traffic congestion on Attiki Odos as at that intersection two lanes merge into one”.
Referring to the intervention, he noted that with the completion of the works “cars from the airport will now enter 130 m later”, resulting in traffic congestion at the point.
