Transport in

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 wi ...

has undergone significant changes in the past two decades, vastly modernizing the country's infrastructure and transportation. Although ferry transport between islands remains the prominent method of transport between the nation's islands, improvements to the road infrastructure, rail, urban transport, and airports have all led to a vast improvement in transportation. These upgrades have played a key role in supporting Greece's economy, which in the past decade has come to rely heavily on the construction industry.

Cable transport

Attica 06-13 Athens 48 Lycabettus railway car

Lycabettus Funicular The Lycabettus Funicular is a funicular railway to the top of Mount Lycabettus in the Greek capital city of Athens. It was constructed in the 1960s by the Greek Tourist Organisation (''EOT'') and was inaugurated on April 18, 1965. The termina ...

Parnitha Funitel The Parnitha Funitel on Mont Parness is the successor of an aerial tramway constructed in the 1970s to serve Casino Mont Parnes, the most popular casino in the Athens area, located on one of the peaks of mount Parnitha. Also, it was a common way ...

* Santorini cable car

Rail transport

Railways

*total: , ( are, or will be,

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

) * standard gauge: gauge *

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

: gauge; gauge * dual gauge: combined and gauges (three rail system) (2004) The state-owned company that owns and maintains Greece's railway network is OSE, while

TrainOSE Hellenic Train S.A., formerly TrainOSE S.A. ( el, ΤραινΟΣΕ Α.Ε., pronounced ''trenosé'') is a private railway company in Greece which currently operates passenger and freight trains on OSE lines. TrainOSE was acquired in September 201 ...

is the company responsible for operating all passenger and freight trains.

Metro

AMEL 1st Generation Stock C21 at Syngrou-Fix Station

Cities with a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

railway network: *

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 ...

(3 lines) (1 under construction) * Thessaloniki Metro (2 lines) (''under construction'')

Commuter rail

Cities with a

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

network ( Proastiakos): *

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 ...

(5 lines) *

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

(2 lines) * Patras (2 lines)

Tram

Athens Tram The Athens Tram is the modern public tram network system serving Athens, Greece. The system is owned and operated by STASY, which replaced Tram S.A. in June 2011. STASY operates a fleet of 25 Alstom Citadis and 35 Sirio vehicles, which serve ...

List of town tramway systems in Greece This is a list of town tramway systems in Greece. It includes all tram systems in Greece, past and present; cities with currently operating systems, and those systems themselves, are indicated in bold and blue background colored rows. Those tram ...

Road transport

Highways

*As of 2017, Greece has 2500 km of motorways. Roads: *total: 117,000 km *paved: 107,406 km *unpaved: 9,594 km (1996 est.) *over 2500 tunnels (est.)

Bus transport

Urban bus transport

*OSY subsidiary of OASA organizes mass bus (Busses and trolleybuses) transit in

. * OASTH organizes mass bus transit in

. *Companies named ''Astiko KTEL'' provide mass bus transit in many of the other cities of

Intercity and regional bus transport

KTEL is the common name for every company which is responsible for intercity and regional bus transit. Most of the regional units, though, have their own regional network of buses, and have their regional unit names labeled on KTEL vehicles that operate there. (e.g. KTEL Argolidas). There are 4 major bus terminals in Greece, the biggest is in Thessaloniki ( Macedonia Inter city bus terminal) which serves all of Greece while Athens has 2 separate bus terminals serving different parts of Greece ( Kifissos bus terminal and Liossion bus terminal). A new Athens bus terminal in Elaionas will replace the two separate terminals and serve all of Greece with completion by 2025. A new bus terminal in Patras which will replace the old one is currently under construction in Agios Dionyssios just 200m from the current one and it will open in early 2023 after many delays due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

Water transport

Waterways

The 80 km system consists of three coastal canals including the

Corinth Canal The Corinth Canal ( el, Διώρυγα της Κορίνθου, translit=Dhioryga tis Korinthou) is an artificial canal in Greece, that connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the ...

(6 km) and three unconnected rivers. The Corinth Canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth, connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the

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 ...

; and shortens the sea voyage from the Adriatic to

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 ...

by 325 km.

Ports and harbours

Alexandroupoli Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...

Argostoli Argostoli ( el, Αργοστόλι, Katharevousa: Ἀργοστόλιον) is a town and a municipality on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is one of the three municipalities on the islan ...

* Elefsina *

Ermoupolis Ermoupoli ( el, Ερμούπολη), also known by the formal older name Ermoupolis or Hermoupolis ( el, < "Town of

Hermes

"), is a to ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regi ...

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia and the capital of Kavala (regional unit), Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across ...

Kerkyra Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...

Chalkis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

Igoumenitsa Igoumenitsa ( el, Ηγουμενίτσα, ) is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Thesprotia. Igoumenitsa is the chief port of Thesprotia and Epirus, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, ...

Lavrio Laurium or Lavrio ( ell, Λαύριο; grc, Λαύρειον (later ); before early 11th century BC: Θορικός ''Thorikos''; from Middle Ages until 1908: Εργαστήρια ''Ergastiria'') is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greec ...

* Patras *

Port of Thessaloniki The Customs House, now passenger terminal, in the early 1900s. The Port of Thessaloniki ( el, Λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης) is one of the largest seaports in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is considered the gateway Port to the Balk ...

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

Katakolo Katakolo ( el, Κατάκολο) is a seaside town in the municipality of Pyrgos in western Elis, Greece. It is situated on a headland overlooking the Ionian Sea and separating the Gulf of Kyparissia from the rest of the Ionian. It is west of P ...

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; el, Μύκονος ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 10,134 inhabitants according to th ...

Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University o ...

Rhodes (city) Rhodes ( el, Ρόδος, ''Ródos'' ) is the principal city and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it is the seat and a mu ...

Souda Souda ( el, Σούδα) is a town and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of ...

Syros Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census). The largest towns are Ermoupoli, An ...

Merchant marine

*total: 3,338 ships (with a volume of or over) totaling

*ships by type (1999 est.) :*

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, eco ...

: 273 :* cargo ship: 60 :* chemical tanker: 22 :*combination bulk: 5 :*combination ore/oil: 8 :*

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

: 43 :* Liquified Gas Carrier: 5 :*multi-functional large load carrier: 1 :* passenger ship: 12 :*passenger/cargo: 2 :* petroleum tanker: 245 :*refrigerated cargo: 3 :* roll-on/roll-off ship: 19 :*short-sea passenger: 75 :*specialized tanker: 4 :*vehicle carrier: 2

Airports

*total: 82 (2005) *With paved runways: 67 :*over 3,047 m: 5 :*2,438–3,047 m: 16 :*1,524–2,437 m: 19 :*914–1,523 m: 17 :*under 914 m: 10 (2005) *With unpaved runways: 15 :*914 to 1,523 m: 3 :*under 914 m: 12 (2005) *heliports: 8 (2005)

Pipelines

*crude oil: 26 km *petroleum products: 547 km

Major construction projects

Completed projects

Motorways

Central Greece Motorway Motorway 3 (A3), or the Central Greece motorway is a partially completed motorway in Greece. It will lead from the Motorway 1 near Lamia to the Motorway 2 near Grevena, passing Karditsa, Trikala and Kalambaka. It will carry the European route E6 ...

* Egnatia Odos ''670 km (420 mi)'' ** Motorway 25 ** Motorway 29 ''77 km (48 mi)'' *

Ionia Odos The Greek Motorway 5 ( el, Αυτοκινητόδρομος 5; code: A5) is a motorway in Greece. The motorway, commonly referred to as Ionia Odos ( el, Ιόνια Οδός) or Ionia Motorway, starts at Ioannina and it follows the western coastlin ...

"196 km (122 mi)" * Motorway 1 (ATHE) ''550 km (340 mi)'' *

Attiki Odos Attiki Odos ( el, Αττική Οδός) is a privately owned toll motorway system in Greece. The Attiki Odos motorways form the outer beltways of the Greater Athens metropolitan area. The total length of the motorways is . The Attiki Odos system ...

''69.7 km (43.3 mi)'' *

Moreas Motorway The Moreas Motorway ( el, Αυτοκινητόδρομος Μωρέας, designated: A7) is a motorway in Peloponnese, Greece. The A7 begins just west of the Isthmus of Corinth, branching off from Greek National Road 8A (which is now integrate ...

''205 km (127 mi)'' *

Olympia Odos Olympia Odos is a toll motorway system on the Peloponnese in Greece. Starting from Eleusis in the Athens metropolitan area, the Olympia Odos motorways follow the Gulf of Corinth to the Rio–Antirrio bridge and the city of Patras, and along ...

''210 km (130 mi)'' * Rio–Antirrio bridge ''2,880 metre long (9,449 ft) (2nd longest cable bridge in Europe''

Railways

Athens Airport–Patras railway The railway from Athens Airport to Patras is a double-track, standard-gauge railway line in Greece that, when completed, will connect Athens International Airport with Patras, the country's third-largest city. One of the largest railway projects ...

(completed until Aigio) * Thessaloniki–Alexandroupoli railway *

:* Line 1 :* Line 2 :* Line 3 *

Ports and harbours

Pireaus Port Rafina Port Lavrion Port

Airports

Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...

Thessaloniki Airport Thessaloniki Airport , officially Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia" ( el, Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Θεσσαλονίκης "Μακεδονία", Kratikós Aeroliménas Thessaloníkis "Makedonía") and formerly Mikra Airport, is ...

- "Makedonia"

Projects under construction

* North Road Axis of Crete *Branches of Egnatia Odos :* Motorway 21 :* Motorway 27 :* * Motorway 71

Railways

*Construction and electrification of extension to Patras of

Line 3 (Athens Metro) Line 3 of the Athens Metro runs from to , via Syntagma, although most of the trains reverse at . The section from Dimotiko Theatro to the tunnel portal east of Doukissis Plakentias is underground, and the section from Doukissis Plakentias to Airp ...

extension to Dimotiko Theatro *

Line 4 (Athens Metro) Line 4 of the Athens Metro is a future line that will run from Alsos Veikou to Goudi. Construction of the line started in mid to late-2021 and is scheduled to be completed in 2029 or 2030. Line 4 had been under consideration for many years. Its ex ...

* Thessaloniki Metro *

extension to Piraeus

Ports and harbours

Airports

* New Heraklion Airport in Kasteli

Future projects

Motorways

*Larisa–Kozane Motorway

Railways

* Line 4 *Igoumenitsa–Ioannina–Kalampaka line *Kalampaka–Kastoria line *Florina–Pogradec line *Kalamaka–Kozani–Thessaloniki–Kavala–Toxotes line *Ioannina–Rio line *Thessaloniki–Chalkidiki line *Thessaloniki–Giannitsa–Skydra line *Chania–Rethymnon–Herakleion line *Thessaloniki Tram *Heraklion Tram *Patras Tram *Larisa Tram *Ioannina Tram *Volos Tram

Airports

References

External links

www.Greek-Motorway.NetThe Hellenic Merchant Maritime Sector: A Historical and Business Overview (Balkanalysis.com)
{{Transportation in Europe

Cable transport

Rail transport

Railways

Metro

Commuter rail

Tram

Road transport

Highways

Bus transport

Urban bus transport

Intercity and regional bus transport

Water transport

Waterways

Ports and harbours

Merchant marine

Airports

Pipelines

Major construction projects

Completed projects

Motorways

Railways

Ports and harbours

Airports

Projects under construction

Railways

Ports and harbours

Airports

Future projects

Motorways

Railways

Airports

See also

References

External links