The second phase of the development of the Thriasio Pedio rail freight complex in the Attica region of Greece has been made possible with EU financial support. The main aim of the project is to concentrate operations in Attica in the new complex so that it becomes Greece’s main freight centre and an important international goods transport hub.
- 20 December 2017
The Thriasio Pedio Freight Complex includes: a) the Freight Railway Station and Marshalling Yard of a total area of 200 hectares comprising railway tracks, access roads, railway sorting yard, cargo depositing facilities, customs area, offices and storage areas and other support buildings and b) the "Freight Centre" to be developed and operated by a private investor on an area of 58.8 hectares mainly comprising warehouses, storage and supply chain management.
The second phase of the project also entails the laying of the superstructure of railway lines within the complex that were not completed in the first phase. This work included the construction of a number of buildings forming part of the rail infrastructure works servicing all ingoing and outgoing traffic at the Thriassio Freight complex, installation of electromechanical systems and of signalling equipment, full electrification of the complex, and installation of the remaining rainwater drainage and sewage infrastructures.
Linking central Europe and the Mediterranean
The Thriasio Pedio complex forms part of the core Trans-European Transport Network’s Orient/East-Med Corridor. This connects central Europe with ports on the North, Baltic, Black and Mediterranean seas. It focuses on fostering development of these ports as major multimodal logistics platforms and providing economic centres in central Europe with modernised transport links to the sea.
Phase one of the Thriasio Pedio received EU financing to the tune of EUR 180.8 million. Phase two has an eligible budget totalling more than EUR 45 3 million, of which approximately EUR 37 million is supplied through EU funds.
All rail freight activities under one roof
The complex includes a shunting yard, a container terminal, a customs house, storehouses, stabling points where wagons with dangerous loads can be left, cleaning facilities and all other necessary installations. Prior to its construction, railway freight activities were dispersed among facilities across Athens. Moving all of these activities into one place, away from residential areas, will have significant environmental and urban planning benefits for Greece’s capital.
Once Thriasio Pedio is fully operational, it should help to reduce the costs of product transport and shift traffic from the roads to the railways, thereby generating further benefits in terms of the environment, the economy and safety. The complex is partially self-financing, generating revenue in the form of fees from users of the infrastructure.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Construction of Operational Phase B of Thriasio Pedio Freight Complex” is EUR 45 318 184, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 37 074 806 through the “Attica” Operational Programme for the 2007-2013 programming period.