Test drive: premiere election show in the non-working Thessaloniki metro

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis became a passenger on the first test metro run in Thessaloniki on Thursday. At the same time, the real launch of the metro is still far away, which means that it was a common pre-election PR…

It is worth noting that the famous and problematic Thessaloniki metro project has not yet been launched, as its construction has dragged on for almost two decades.

Casually dressed, accompanied by several ministers and his wife, Mitsotakis for the first time traveled at low speed the entire route – from the new railway station to the Pilea depot. He stated that his government has made good on its commitment to provide the people of Thessaloniki with the most modern metro system in Europe in the near future (if you choose ND, of course. Editor’s note).

“The Thessaloniki Metro is now in trial operation and those who had the opportunity to accompany us today have seen that this government has kept its promise”Mitsotakis said.

“Thessaloniki gets the most beautiful metro in Europe”said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The Thessaloniki metro was supposed to be ready and put into operation in April 2023, the prime minister said, but he recently adjusted his forecasts, saying that the metro would be completed by the end of the year and fully operational in the first months of 2024.

In addition, the state-owned company Attiko Metro, which is responsible for the development and construction of subways in Athens and Thessaloniki, said that the project will be commissioned at the end of the year, and operation will begin in 2024.

When the New Democracy party came to power in 2019, it changed the planned plans for the metro project due to archaeological finds, although it was possible to find an acceptable solution, as, for example, at the Monastiraki metro station in Athens.

This caused a new delay spanning several years and reportedly cost the government over 85 million euros in compensation to contractors.

Επιβάτης στην πρώτη δοκιμαστική λειτουργία του Μετρό στη Θεσσαλονίκη ο @kmitsotakis

“Κάναμε πράξη τη δέσμευσή μας” δήλωσε ο πρωθυπουργόςhttps://t.co/JsROKNx4pU

— ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ (@amna_news) May 18, 2023

On Wednesday, journalists and reporters were invited for a test ride that started from the new train station to Nea Elvetia and ended at the railway Pilay stationpassing through all stations.

A 9.6 km route with 13 stations was traveled at a very low speed of 15 km per hour to the station “Fountain”since the control of the train was manual.

Το Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης χθες. pic.twitter.com/RD5uelKS9O

— Teacher Dude (@teacherdude) May 18, 2023

The rest of the route, from “Fontana” before depot saw, was passed at a speed that could reach 80 km / h, since this part of the route is fully automated in terms of train traffic, reports ethnos.gr.

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