Greece’s national rail operator TrainOSE has been renamed Hellenic Train in a presentation attended by Greek and Italian ministers in Athens on Friday.
The new name and logo are introduced by Greek Minister of Transport Kostas A. Karamanlis, as well as Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras and Italian Finance Minister Daniele Franco*.
The Greek government has decided to modernize rail transport by investing more than 4.5 billion euros, Karamanlis said, adding that the country’s rail system “is at the heart of the green transition.”
Staikouras noted the recently signed agreement between TrainOSE and the Greek state, which provides for the supply of hybrid and other modern trains, as well as the modernization and digitization of passenger service systems.
Capotorto announced that additional rail lines would be built in Greece and stressed his commitment to procuring hydrogen trains and more commuter trains.
Speaking of freight traffic, Capotorto also emphasized the company’s connection to the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, and that Hellenic Train will play a leading role in the port of Alexandroupolis.
* You ask, what does the Minister of Finance of Italy have to do with it? Everything is simple. A few years ago, in 2016, Greek railways were taken over by the state-owned Italian railway company. Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group for a symbolic price of 500 million euros. The real cost of TrainOSE was estimated several dozen times more. But creditors insisted on this price.
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