Greek PM inaugurates three metro stations on Line 3 (VIDEO)

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis inaugurated 3 new metro stations “Agia Varvara”, “Korydallos” and “Nikaia” on Monday.

Named after the Piraeus suburbs of Aghia Varvara, Korydallos and Nikea, the new Line 3 metro stations will begin operating on Tuesday.

It is estimated that the new Line 3 will serve 60,000 people daily, a number that will further increase when the extension of line 3 reaches the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus in 2022.

“I would prefer to talk about three important steps of progress and modernisation, for which we were committed and which are becoming a reality today. As tomorrow marks the end of the first year of the government’s term in office, we justify the four words that I believe and say a lot: “We said it, we did it, we prefer our works to speak.”

Referring to the economic importance of the project, Mitsotakis said that it has created thousands of new jobs- 2,000 people have worked and are working on this important construction site.

The PM also noted that traffic in these suburbs and Piraeus at large will be relieved with 10,000 fewer vehicles, and when metro Line 3 intersects with the electric train (ISAP) Piraeus station in summer 2022, some 140,000 passengers are projected to be using the new stations every day.

Construction of the Athens metro was first conceived under his father, Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis in 1992, while the actual Line 3 contract took another 20 years to be signed in 2012, he pointed out.

"This project was completed on time, within the projected timeframe, despite the hurdles posed by the coronavirus pandemic," the prime minister said, adding that the same will happen "for the other three stations under construction in Piraeus - in Maniatika, the Municipal Theater and Piraeus port station."

Shortening travel time, the Nikea-Syntagma route will be covered in 14 minutes and the Nikea-Athens Airport one in 55 minutes.

Athens metro Line 3 now has 24 stations, which will rise to 27 in 2022 with the addition of three more stations, at Maniatika, Piraeus and the Piraeus Municipal Theatre.

"We said it, we did it," exclaimed Mitsotakis upon delivering the stations.