A basic prerequisite for setting the country on the track of economic growth is the construction of infrastructures for urban transport, transportation and sustainable mobility. After an extended pause, the execution of Thessaloniki Metro works has recommenced for 6 months now, but this time on a more solid base and with all the Project’s problems having been resolved, having obtained a secure funding and having set a clear time frame for its completion.
The Metro will decisively contribute to the economic growth of Thessaloniki, both during its construction period, by generating new job positions and by investing hundreds of millions of Euros which will end up in the real economy of the wider Thessaloniki area, as well as during its operation, by boosting the entrepreneurship, commerce and tourism as a result of the Project’s incorporation in the city’s daily life. The completion of the Project will give a push to the growth of Thessaloniki and will also significantly improve its environment and will decisively improve the quality of life of its residents.
During the current harsh economic environment, we are presented with strong growth potentialities which, if properly exploited, will lead us out of the current financial and social deadlocks. The Metro is one of these wagons towards development.
According to ELLLINIKO METRO S.A. planning, the boring of the twin track tunnels will be completed by the end of the year and the civil works will be completed in the following year. Thus, a considerable portion of the streets and sidewalks currently occupied by worksite installations will be gradually delivered for public use. The Metro Base Line, i.e., the line connecting New Railway Station with Nea Elvetia and the Depot at Pylaia, shall be delivered operational in 2020, while Venizelos Station, whose design and construction is resuming today from base one after the agreement among the company, the Ministry of Culture and Thessaloniki Municipality, will be delivered a year later, enriching the city with a distinctive landmark where culture and technology blend in a harmonious manner. It will be an open museum of a city underneath the city and, at the same time, a modern Metro station.
The Metro is probably the best chance of the city to unite its forces and to prove that major projects leading to economic growth and prosperity are possible to be planned and implemented.
Yiannis A. Mylopoulos, Chairman
Theodoros Papadopoulos, Vice Chairman of the BoD & Managing Director
