The A8 motorway, also known as the Olympia Odos (),
(FEK AAP' 253/21.12.2015, pp. 2098–2099). is a toll motorway in southwestern

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, which connects

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

with

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

via

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

, spanning a total of . The future, currently under construction,

- Pyrgos motorway is expected to open by the end of 2025. The motorway will eventually extend to Tsakona near Kalamata, connecting with the A7 Moreas Motorway. The motorway replaces Greek National Road 8A, which has been upgraded to modern motorway standards. The completion date was scheduled for 2014. Since April 2017, the entire motorway from Eleusis to Patras is fully operational.Olympia Odos, the motorway from Eleusis to Patras, in operation
on ypodomes.gr

Operation

''Olympia Odos S.A.'' will maintain and operate the road for a total of 30 years. Operations will include two Traffic Control Centers built to operate 24/7 to handle emergency calls, as well as monitor traffic situations and contact emergency services when needed. Also, as part of the construction deal, 24/7 patrols, worksite protection, timely detection and response to incidents, and special services in the winter, are included. During the construction phase, routine maintenance and work for all parts of the infrastructure of the existing National roads were conducted.

Facilities

, there are 5 front, two-sided toll stations on the A8: at

Eleusis Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost ...

, the

Isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

, Zevgolateio, Elaionas and Rio. The section between Eleusis and Corinth has 3 lanes per direction. There are service areas in

Nea Peramos Nea Peramos (), before the 1990s ''Megalo Pefko'' (), is a suburb and a former municipality in West Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Megara, of which it is a municipal unit. Geography Nea Pe ...

Megara Megara (; , ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken ...

, Kiato,

Akrata Akrata, () is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aigialeia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 180.169 km2. Akr ...

and

Aigio Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' (, ; ), is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the mun ...

.Motorways-Exits
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Construction progress

On September 2, 2016, the first fully completed Olympia Odos segment, the section between

Ancient Corinth Corinth ( ; ; ; ) was a city-state (''polis'') on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnese peninsula to the mainland of Greece, roughly halfway between Ancient Athens, Athens and Sparta. The modern city ...

and Kiato (20 km with 2 lanes in each direction + emergency lane and two interchanges in Zevgolatio and Kiato), was officially opened to traffic, with the presence of the Greek Prime Minister,

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras (, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. A left-wing figure, Tsipras was leader of the List of political parties in Greece, Greek political party Syriza from 200 ...

. Although there were still some minor scale works (mostly on interchanges), traffic flow was not impacted. On the same day, the Derveni tunnels were given to public use. On December 19, 2016, another 9 km opened in

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

from Kiato to

Xylokastro Xylokastro () is a seaside town and a former municipality in Corinthia in the Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xylokastro-Evrostina, of which it is a unit or component. The municipal unit ...

, without the Xylokastro interchange which was opened in February together with Derveni Interchange. Any remaining segments of the motorway under construction were completed and opened to traffic in April 2017 when the official inauguration of the road took place as well, at the same month that segments of the A5 motorway and the A1 motorway's Tempe tunnels were also inaugurated and opened to traffic.

Tunnels

Westbound (direction Patras)

* Geraneia Tunnel () * Efpalinos Tunnel () * Aithra Tunnel () * Panagopoula Tunnel ()

Eastbound (direction Athens)

* Panagopoula Tunnel () * Derveni Tunnel () * Skyron Tunnel () * Thiseas Tunnel ()

Exit list

References

External links

Olympia Odos official website
{{Greekroads Motorways in Greece Roads in Attica Roads in Western Greece Roads in Peloponnese (region)