Trial runs for the trains at the new Piraeus stations of the metro will begin by the end of next week, Attiko Metro Managing Director Nikos Kouretas said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Technical Chamber of Greece's conference "Green Deal Greece 2022" at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Kouretas said that the stations on the new Line 4 will be turned over for use to the public at a date to be announced shortly.
In addition, he said, the Thessaloniki metro will be operational at the end of 2023.
"Along with the three Piraeus stations that we will turn over to the public in the next two months, Lines 2 and 3 [Red and Blue] will end up serving over a million passengers a day, which means 200,000 fewer cars in Athens daily, and a drop by 880 tons of carbon dioxide," Kouretas said.
"Corresponding to this, in Thessaloniki we expect to see 310,000 passengers per day, 55,000 fewer cars, and a drop by 140 tons of carbon dioxide," he added.
The metro will also bring an improvement in the urban landscape with planting of trees, while it will also serve major facilities such as hospitals.
In addition, the barriers around Line 4 earthworks will be decorated with paintings using special pollution-absorbing colours developed by a Greek startup, Kouretas said.
Once completed, the three new stations – Maniatika, Piraeus and Municipal Theatre – will connect Piraeus with Athens’ centre and the Athens International Airport.
Last year, another three stations of the Piraeus-bound line opened to the public: Agia Varvara, Korydallos and Nikaia.
The line’s extension to the port of Piraeus is expected to increase overall passenger traffic on the metro network by 132,000 commuters on a daily basis. Furthermore, the circulation of cars will decrease by 23,000 daily, also reducing carbon dioxide by 120 tons/day.
The new “Piraeus” metro station will become a significant transport hub by connecting two metro lines (1 and 3) with the Piraeus port, the suburban railway and the tram line towards Piraeus.
The station is expected to upgrade the city of Piraeus and improve the quality of life of its residents.
Piraeus’ archaeological treasures
The extension of the Piraeus-bound metro line has come against major challenges since its last section is located near the sea and has brought to light over 10,000 significant archaeological findings.
These archaeological treasures will be on display in a permanent exhibition at the “Municipal Theater” station. Among these are an ancient water tank and a replica of a Roman aqueduct, the courtyard of an ancient house with its pebble floor and various everyday objects.
The most important findings are the pebble floors of the Alexandrian era that will be on display under a glass floor at the station.
READ MORE: Thessaloniki judicial council acquits man of NYE rape charge.
