Elliniko Metro ( el, Ελληνικό Μετρό), formerly Attiko Metro () until May 2023, is a Greek

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( l ...

who is responsible for the development and construction of 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 electri ...

and the

Thessaloniki Metro The Thessaloniki Metro ( el, Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης, ', ) is an underground rapid-transit system under construction in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Estimates for the cost of the megaproject are €1.62 billion ...

, as well as the

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 ...

. Headquartered in the

Ellinoroson Ellinoroson ( ), literally 'of the Greek-Russians', is a neighbourhood of Athens, Greece. As its name suggests, the area was first inhabited by Greeks fleeing from Russia. The Katechaki metro station serves Line 3 of the Athens Metro The A ...

neighbourhood of

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

, the

Greek government Greece is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the President of Greece is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government within a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the ...

created the company in July 1991: Elliniko Metro's original purpose was to oversee the delivery of the Base Project of the Athens Metro, which opened in three stages, in 2000 and 2003. Elliniko Metro also owned and operated the Athens Metro and Tram until June 2011, when

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 met ...

took over that role.

History

The

established Elliniko Metro as Attiko Metro ( el, Αττικό Μετρό) on 18 July 1991, under Law 1955/1991. The original purpose of Attiko Metro was to oversee the delivery of the Base Project of the

, whose contract had been awarded to the Olympic Metro consortium of 23 companies in the previous month.
The Base Project consisted of two lines with a total length of and 20 stations, and opened in three phases from 28 January 2000 to 22 April 2003. The Greek government then assigned Attiko Metro the role of developing and build the

in December 2003, and any future extensions to the

in 2013. On 18 May 2023, Greek Prime Minister

Kyriakos Mitsotakis Kyriakos Mitsotakis ( el, Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician serving as the prime minister of Greece since 8 July 2019. A member of the New Democracy, he has been its president since 2016. He prev ...

announced that in advance of the opening of the Thessaloniki Metro in 2024, Attiko Metro would change its name to Elliniko Metro.

Organisation

The

is currently the only

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal ...

of Elliniko Metro. Law 1955/1991 allows the partial privatisation of Elliniko Metro in the future, but the Greek government must retain a

controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the majo ...

of at least 51% over any resultant company: Elliniko Metro may also only merge with mass transit organizations that operate within the area of the former

Attica Prefecture Attica Prefecture ( el, Νομὸς Ἀττικῆς) was a prefecture of Greece, first established in 1833 and disestablished for the last time in 1987. The prefecture was coextensive with the present-day Attica region. History Attica Prefectu ...

Current operations

Elliniko Metro is currently responsible for the development and construction of the

, the

, and the

Former operations

Elliniko Metro previously had two operational subsidiaries to operate and maintain Metro lines 2 and 3, and the current Athenian tram network: on 17 June 2011, AMEL and Tram S.A. merged with

Athens–Piraeus Electric Railways The Athens–Piraeus Electric Railways ( el, Ηλεκτρικοί Σιδηρόδρομοι Αθηνών Πειραιώς, Ilektrikoi Sidirodromoi Athinon Peiraios, translit-std=ISO, ), commonly abbreviated as ISAP, was a company which operated th ...

(ISAP) to form

, a subsidiary of Transport for Athens (OASA) instead of Elliniko Metro: * The Attiko Metro Operation Company ( el, Αττικό Μετρό Εταιρεία Λειτουργίας, ), commonly abbreviated to AMEL, operated and maintained the infrastructure of Lines 2 and 3 of the

, except for the surface section of Line 3 between and . Headquartered at the Sepolia Metro Depot at 94 Kifissou Avenue, AMEL was established on 15 February 2001, three years after Law 2669/1998 allowed Elliniko Metro to operate and maintain Lines 2 and 3. * Tram S.A. ( el, ΤΡΑΜ Α.Ε.) operated and maintained the infrastructure of the

, including 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 ...

trams and 48 stops (in June 2011). Headquartered at the tram depot in

Elliniko Elliniko ( el, Ελληνικό, meaning "Greek") is a coastal suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Elliniko-Argyroupoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Elliniko is known for the Hell ...

, Tram S.A. was established in March 2001.
The logos of both companies were the same as the system that they operated.

Timeline of Athens Metro projects

In this table, the completion date refers to the opening of the last section or station in the contract: for example, the initial scheme of the

opened in three stages, on 28 January 2000, 15 November 2000, and 22 April 2003. The source reported that the opening ceremony took place at 12:00 on 15 November 2000, with the public being able to use the extension from 18:00 the same day.

References