Thessaly Railways

Volos–Mileai (Pelion railway)

Construction started in 1882 under the general management of chief engineer Evaristo de Chirico. The section from Volos to Larissa, 61 kilometres (38 mi) long, was inaugurated on 22 April 1884 by King George I. The 142-kilometre (88 mi) section from Velestino to Kalambaka was completed on 16 June 1886.

The Thessaly network after 1955

The Hellenic State Railways (OSE) absorbed Thessaly Railways in 1955.

In 1960 the line from Larissa to Volos was converted to standard gauge and was connected at Larissa with the mainline from Athens to Thessaloniki. For the section between Latomeio and Volos the standard gauge line follows a different route with an additional halt at Melissiatika. The standard gauge line is physically connected to the Athens-Thessaloniki mainline, allowing OSE to run through services to Volos from Athens and Thessaloniki. Volos station was converted to dual gauge, in order to accommodate trains of the two branches. Parts of the station and the track towards the city centre were at this period of a unique triple-gauge system: standard gauge for Larissa trains, metre gauge for Kalambaka trains and 600 mm gauge for Pelion trains.

In 1970 the network was taken over by the new Hellenic Railways Organisation, successor of the Hellenic State Railways.

In 2001 the section between Palaiofarsalos and Kalampaka was also converted to standard gauge and physically connected at Palaiofarsalos with the mainline from Athens to Thessaloniki. Volos station was converted to exclusively standard gauge. The section to the city centre was abandoned and covered with asphalt. The remaining metre gauge section (Velestino– Palaiofarsalos) was closed in 1999.

Freight traffic declined sharply when the state-imposed monopoly of OSE for the transport of agricultural products and fertilisers ended in the early 1990s. Many small stations of the network with little passenger traffic were closed down, especially on the mainline section and between Karditsa and Kalambaka. However, travel times improved and the unification of rail gauge allowed direct services, even InterCity services, to link Volos and Kalambaka with Athens and Thessaloniki.

In August 2009, TrainOSE S.A. proceeded to a drastic cutback of passenger services on Thessaly lines. There are only six local trains on each direction on Larissa-Volos line and just four on Palaiofarsalos-Kalambaka. In addition, there is one train from Athens to Kalambana and back (884/885) and one InterCity train from Athens to Volos and back (IC40/IC41).

The mainline of Thessaly was electrified and some services are now using HellasSprinter electric locomotives and Siemens Desiro EMUs. There are proposals to electrify the branch lines as well, in order to allow through services from Volos and Kalambaka to Thessaloniki.