Infrastructure & Transport Min Staikouras: Our priority is implementing flagship public projects

The road linking Aktio and Amvrakia (Motorway 52 or Amvrakia Motorway) in Western Greece will open to traffic on January 31, Infrastructure & Transport Minister Christos Staikouras said on Thursday, providing a review of his ministry's work and the priorities for 2024.

The Trikala-Kalabaka and Lamia-Xyniada (Motorway E65) in central Greece are expected to be turned over to traffic gradually, within the first half of 2024, he added. The Patras-Pyrgos highway in NW Peloponnese is on target and will be ready for use in 2025.

Staikouras said that the technical offers for the Northern Crete Road Axis (VOAK) have been unsealed and the unsealing of economic offers will follow in the next few days. Among other major road projects, the economic tenders for the extension of Ionia Odos (the Ioannina-Kakavia section) were submitted, the works on Bralos-Amfissa road have begun, the Western Attica urban railroad project concession has begun, and the Thessaloniki metro project is continuing and will be fully ready for use by November 2024.

A total of 50 projects worth 146 million euros are in progress for upgrades or construction of new public buildings in regions of Attica, including upgrades for a kindergarten at Astros and the Greek School in Brussels ('Kestekideio'). In addition, the ministry signed a memorandum of collaboration with the Union of Greek Shipowners to repair 33 schools in Thessaly and Central Greece following natural catastrophes, while the Athens-Thessaloniki schedules have restarted. "A total of 59,900 passengers used the specific railroad axis from the date of restart to two days ago, or in less than a month," Staikouras said, while related technical works on bridges and roads continue in Thessaly and Central Greece, which were affected by natural disasters.

The plan for the new Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) presented in the cabinet is about to begin, with the creation of a new unified public agency bringing all subsidiaries together, while upgrades or construction of segments of the railroad network in Greece will be included in a funding proposal to be submitted to the European Union (CEF-2), Staikouras added.

Among other issues Staikouras mentioned, which have been detailed in earlier public statements, were the safety of air transport, the renewal of the urban buses in Athens and Thessaloniki, electromobility, digitization, the National Bridge Registry (now being set up) and the National Strategic Plan, which will be posted for public consultation.