Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Nikos Tachiaos outlined the current state of the Thessaloniki Metro and its planned extensions across the city in an interview on ERT102FM radio with journalists Efi Tsampazi and Vasilis Peklaris. He said studies for the extension to northwestern Thessaloniki had advanced significantly, while the Flyover is due to be handed over on 16 May 2027.
Mr Tachiaos said the Thessaloniki Metro had demonstrated very high availability from its first days of operation, with trains arriving on time 99.93% of the time. Services are adjusted to demand at different times of day, running less frequently outside peak hours to limit electricity consumption and wear on trains, the track and systems, he explained. “Supply must always follow demand,” Nikos Tachiaos said.
The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport made clear that all stations on the northwestern extension had been designed and that the cost-benefit analysis was nearing completion. He noted that the Thessaloniki Metro Development Study and the proposed locations of the stations had been presented publicly about two years ago. The plan envisages two lines. One runs beneath Lagkada Street and continues towards Stavroupoli and Efkarpia. The other heads towards Kordelio, via Ampelokipoi, Menemeni and Evosmos. One of the lines also passes back through the city centre, with a station at Aristotelous, before continuing towards Toumba and Charilaou.
The extensions
Mr Tachiaos said Evosmos was one of the main priorities, as a municipality with a large population, demographic growth and significant needs. “Evosmos is certainly on our radar,” Nikos Tachiaos said, adding that the Stavroupoli line was also important and would not be left behind.
The order in which the extension projects will be built has not yet been decided. As the Deputy Minister explained, it will depend on the level of funding secured from the new NSRF, in negotiations that will take time. For that reason, there is currently no specific timetable. “Every project needs one essential factor. That factor is funding. Everything starts with securing the funding,” Nikos Tachiaos said.
The extension to the airport remains a possibility in the Thessaloniki Metro Development Study, but is not a top priority. Mr Tachiaos said measured demand did not justify prioritising the project. “If it is prioritised, it will compete with those lines that are genuinely important and serve northwestern Thessaloniki,” Nikos Tachiaos said.
In Kalamaria, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport noted that the contract for Pontou Street had recently been signed, with a contractual completion period of nine months. He said it was a difficult project, with regular contact with the contractor and consultation with the Municipality of Kalamaria, which is responsible for the road. Work sites will be set up very soon.
Transport changes
Completion of Pontou Street, he added, will improve access to the Mikra terminus and allow bus routes around the Metro to be reorganised. “No metro fills up from day one,” Nikos Tachiaos said, explaining that passenger numbers rise gradually and that it takes time for travel patterns to change, with passengers transferring from buses to the Metro. An integrated ticket is being discussed in earnest with OSETH, he said, with a view to finalising it very soon.
On operating hours, Mr Tachiaos pledged that the Metro would run around the clock on Friday and Saturday nights. He clarified that the network could not operate 24 hours a day on a permanent basis, as maintenance cannot be carried out while the lines are live and trains are moving. The roughly five hours of daily closure are barely enough, he said.
On the timetable and cost of future extensions, the Deputy Minister said building a metro was a complex undertaking and that the final outcome also depended on how maturely a city managed it. He noted that delays and compensation on the main line were linked to the political dispute over the fate of Venizelou station from 2012 to 2019.
On the Flyover, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Nikos Tachiaos was unequivocal: “The Flyover is currently due to be handed over on 16 May 2027. We have not shifted that date by a single inch, and we are working very intensively to meet it.”