The Athens Tram is the modern public

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

network system serving

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. The system is owned and operated by

STASY Urban Rail Transport S.A. ( el, Σταθερές Συγκοινωνίες, Statheres Synkoinonies, translit-std=ISO, ), commonly abbreviated as STASY, is a Greek public transport operator of the Athens Metro and the Athens Tram. It is the metr ...

, which replaced Tram S.A. in June 2011. STASY operates a fleet of 25 Alstom Citadis and 35

Sirio The Hitachi Sirio (Italian for Sirius, formerly sold as the AnsaldoBreda Sirio) is a low-floor tram built by Hitachi Rail Italy (formerly AnsaldoBreda), a Japanese-Italian manufacturer of trains, trams and light-rail vehicles. It can be ordered ...

vehicles, which serve two tram lines and 60 stops. The tram network spans a total length of throughout ten Athenian suburbs. This network runs from Syntagma (central Athens) to the coastal suburb of

Palaio Faliro Palaio Faliro ( el, Παλαιό Φάληρο, ; Katharevousa: Palaion Faliron, Παλαιόν Φάληρον, meaning "Old Phalerum") is a coastal district and a municipality in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. At the 2011 c ...

, where the line splits in two branches: the first runs along the Athens coastline toward the southern suburb of

Voula Voula ( el, Βούλα) is a southern suburb of Athens along the Athens coast and former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which it is the seat a ...

, while the other heads toward the port of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

. The network covers the majority of the city's

Saronic Gulf The Saronic Gulf (Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Co ...

coastline. Athens' tram system provides average daily service to 65,000 passengers, and employs 345 people.

History

Old tram networks (1908-1960)

Athens Tram began its operations in 1882 with horse tramways. After 1908, the metre gauge tram network was electrified and was extended to 21 lines. The original Athens tram system ceased operations in 1960 and was replaced by

trolleybuses A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

and motor buses. A standard gauge tram system was built along the perimeter of Piraeus Harbour by the Hellenic Electric Railways.

Modern tram system

In March 2001, Tram S.A. was established as a public utility company under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, as a subsidiary company of Attiko Metro S.A., the state company which developed the

Athens Metro The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens urban area and parts of East Attica. Line 1 opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869 and electrif ...

network. The company started the construction of the initial network in the beginning of 2002, and was opened by

Michalis Liapis Michalis Liapis ( el, Μιχάλης Λιάπης; born 8 May 1951) is a former Greek New Democracy politician and minister. Liapis was born in Athens to Konstantinos Liapis, a lawyer, and Antigoni Karamanli (1921–2010). His mother was a young ...

( Minister for Transport and Communications) on 19 July 2004, a few weeks prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The construction of the tram network was financed by the Third European Regional Development Fund and Greek state funds. In March 2011, the Greek Government passed Law 3920 to allow ISAP and Tram S.A. to be absorbed by AMEL. The resulting company was renamed STASY S.A. ( el, ΣΤΑΣΥ Α.Ε.) and is a subsidiary of OASA S.A. The merger was officially announced on June 10, 2011. From 19 October 2018 to 20 November 2020, tram services were suspended between and , due to concerns over subsidence in the underground riverbed of the

Ilisos The Ilisos or Ilisus ( el, Ιλισός, ) is a river in Athens, Greece. Originally a tributary of the Kifisos, it has been rechanneled to the sea. It is now largely channeled underground, though as of June 2019 there are plans to unearth the ...

: services from to Edem and Mousson were also suspended from 16 March 2020 to 21 January 2021, due to realignment works associated with the Faliro Waterfront regeneration project.

Extensions

The first extension of the Athens Tram, consisting of a single-stop 700-metre line from to in North Voula, opened on 15 November 2007. The second extension consists of a one-way loop from to Akti Poseidonos, along with twelve new stops: construction work started in 2013, and the first test run of the extension took place on 7 February 2019. From 28 November 2019, trams heading towards Faliro terminated at instead of Stadio Irinis & Filias, before running out of service towards Akti Poseidonos. The loop opened to the public on 15 December 2021, with as the provisional terminus for Line 7. The final terminus of the extension, Akti Poseidonos, is not yet open .

Ticketing policy

Ticket counters and automatic ticket machines with touch screens are available in some of the stations. Purchased tickets are valid for 90 minutes (1 hour 30 minutes) after validation and can be used for several rides for all means of public transport in Athens including the

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

, buses, and the urban part of the

suburban railway Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are cons ...

(between Piraeus, Magoula and Koropi stations, excluding the airport). Passengers must validate their tickets at the electronic validating machines inside the tram vehicle at the start of their ride. The normal adult flat fare is €1.20 (valid for 90 minutes). There are daily and weekly tickets, as well as monthly cards which also apply for all means of public transport in Athens. Fares are checked frequently; passengers who fail to show a validated ticket or a monthly card are penalized by a fine of 60 times the price of a standard ticket. Children under 6, the handicapped, and persons currently enlisted in the military are eligible for free transportation.

Network

Current routes

The Athens Tram currently consists two routes, Lines 6 and 7: * Line 6 starts at Syntagma Square in Central Athens, and runs south west towards the coast, before turning south east at the junction of

Poseidonos Avenue Poseidonos Avenue ( el, Λεωφόρος Ποσειδώνος), also known as Paraliaki (), is the main coastal road of Athens, Greece. It runs from new Faliro in Piraeus to Glyfada and beyond, traversing all the coastal suburbs of Athens; thus it ...

and Achilleos towards Pikrodafni in Kalamaki. * Line 7 starts at Asklepieio Voulas in

, running north west along the coast towards Agia Triada in

, operating in a one-way loop west of Neo Faliro. Lines 6 and 7 (also known occasionally as T6 and T7 respectively) were introduced on 6 December 2021, replacing Lines 3, 4 and 5. Line 7 was extended from to Agia Triada on 15 December the same year. The two lines share tram tracks from Pikrodafni to the junction of Poseidonos Avenue and Achilleos.

Former routes

The present Athens Tram opened with five lines, which were named after

ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

(Line 1),

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

(Line 2),

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...

(Line 3),

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

(Line 4), and

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

(Line 5). Line 3 ran between Stadio Irinis & Filias (SEF) and Kolymvitirio, Line 4 ran between Syntagma and SEF, and Line 5 ran between Syntagma and Kolymvitirio. Lines 1 and 2 were shortened versions of Lines 4 and 5 respectively, terminating at Leoforos Vouliagmenis instead of Syntagma: Lines 1 and 2 were discontinued in early-2005. Lines 3 and 5 were extended to Asklepieio Voulas on 15 November 2007. From 28 November 2019, westbound trams of Lines 3 and 4 terminated at instead of Stadio Irinis & Filias.

Stops

Since December 2021, the system consists of 59 tram stops: one additional stop, on the western end of the Piraeus branch, is complete but not yet open. A majority of the stops are within the South and Central Athens regional units: thirteen are in

, and one is in Voula.

Rolling stock

The Athens Tram opened in 2004 with 35

trams from

AnsaldoBreda Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi Rail of Japan. After the ...

. To support the extension of the system into the centre of Piraeus, an order was placed in July 2018 for 25 Alstom Citadis 305 trams, delivery of which began in September 2020 and will extend through May 2021.

Notes

References

External links

Urban Rail Transport S.A.: Tramway

Athens Urban Transport Organisation (OASA)

{{Urban transport in Greece Electric railways in Greece