Owned by OSE Tracks 15 Address Athens 104 37, Greece Platforms in use 9 | Line(s) Piraeus–Platy railway Parking yes Opened 8 March 1904 | |
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Location Domokou Avenue, Kolonos
Athens, Greece Owner Hellenic Railways Organisation Similar Athens Airport Station, Acharnes Railway Center, Doukissis Plakentias station, Omonia metro station, Syntagma metro station | ||
Athens railway station
Athens Railway Station (Greek: Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Αθήνας, Sidirodromikós Stathmós Athinón) is the main railway station of Athens, the capital city of Greece. It is located in the central quarter of Kolonos. It resulted from the merger of the city's two main railway terminals, the Larissa Station of the Piraeus–Platy railway line towards central and northern Greece, and of the Peloponnese Station (Greek: Σταθμός Πελοποννήσου, Stathmós Peloponnísou) of the Piraeus–Patras railway line linking Athens with the southern Peloponnese peninsula. The station is still colloquially known as "Larissa Station", which is also the name of a Metro station there.
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History
Inaugurated on 29 June 1904, the station was named after the city of Larissa, as the southern terminal of the line to the Thessalian city and Thessaloniki. The older adjacent station, Stathmós Peloponnísou (Σταθμός Πελοποννήσου, 37°59′22.6″N 23°43′9.52″E), was inaugurated on 30 June 1884, named after the Peloponnese peninsula due to its services to the region. Closed on 7 August 2005, along with the Piraeus-Agioi Anargyroi line, its activities since then moved to the Stathmos Larissis. Regarding the metro station, part of the Line 2, it is an underground stop inaugurated on 28 January 2000.
Structure
Larissa Station has a large two-floors building, in front of a square Domokou avenue, in which there are some platforms for bus services. It counts 2 platforms and 3 tracks but, starting from the first 2000s, it is under reconstruction for modernization and enlargement: the station will be improved with 12 tracks and 7 platforms and the line electrified. Construction of the new platforms and tracks, located where it was the goods yard of Peloponnese station, is almost complete.
Traffic
The station is served by Athens Metro and by the "Proastiakos" (a service of TrainOSE) suburban line Piraeus-Ano Liosia; that links it, though not directly, to the International Airport Elefthérios Venizélos.
Several regional trains serve Attica and some InterCity trains, mainly to Patras and Thessaloniki (Neós Stathmós). During the twentieth century, especially in the first half, Athens station was the terminus for some international trains, such as an Express to Berlin (departing from the former Anhalter Bahnhof) or the "Arlberg" route of the Orient Express (London-Athens via Paris-Zürich-Vienna-Budapest-Belgrade-Skopje), in service until 1962.
Future
Being under construction since 2005 and having faced lots of delays, the station's expansion promises to significantly increase its capacity and increase the number of platforms.