Thessaloniki’s new metro opened after two-decade wait

Europe has welcomed another addition to its urban transit network with the recent inauguration of Thessaloniki's new metro system. On November 30, 2023, Greece's second-largest city and UPPER twinning site, celebrated the opening of the first line of this modern, largely automated metro. This significant development is expected to enhance public transportation in Thessaloniki, alleviate traffic congestion, and provide residents and visitors with a more efficient means of travel throughout the city.

UPPER-wise, The new METRO system is strongly related to measures TES_01, TES_05, and TES_07. In a nutshell, under TES_01 and TES_05, an existing multimodal planner has been upgraded to inform users about available parking spaces in the Park-and-Ride (P&R) area in Nea Elvetia station (TES_01) and to integrate METRO in the journey planning (TES_05). On the other hand, measure TES_07 develops a Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service to improve PT accessibility in a low-demand area. One of the use case scenarios of DRT is connecting the area to the Nea Elvetia station. Nea Elvetia station consists of a multimodal hub in Thessaloniki as it combines METRO, buses, and micro-mobility services.

The project was built through densely populated areas and involved extensive archaeological work, uncovering Thessaloniki’s historical layers. Key pieces of what was found have been put on display along the underground network, including a section of the marble-paved Roman thoroughfare at the central Venizelou Station. This included the ancient Roman road, Decumanus Maximus, which will be displayed in a unique station museum.

Photo credit Giannis Papanikos/AP

The first line is 9.6 kilometers long, runs exclusively underground, and is driverless. For this reason, all stops are equipped with platform doors that remain closed until a train arrives and stops. Even if this is occasionally dispensed with in new systems at other locations, even with automatic operation the Greeks are nevertheless following the prevailing trend for safety reasons.

Photo credit @atticometro

The metro will serve around 315,000 passengers daily, reducing road traffic by approximately 60,000 vehicles and preventing 77,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually. The public will be able to use it for four days completely free of charge, and then the ticket price will be 0.60 euros, officials say.

Photo credit @webuild

The logo of the Thessaloniki Metro features a lowercase “m” inside a circle that resembles the tunnels of the metro. This logo is meant to capture the history of Thessaloniki and tie it to the present era through a modern form of mass transportation like the metro. The logo combines the past with contemporary, minimalistic aesthetics, which is why the lowercase “m” was chosen, as it can also be read as an uppercase “M,” explained the head of the architectural department of Hellenic Metro, Chrysoula Kousteni.