Reactivating the Peloponnese railway line topped the agenda of talks between Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) President Giannos Grammatidis and the Ambassador of Switzerland to Greece Stefan Estermann.
Founded in 1884 as part of the Piraeus-Athens-Peloponnese railway, the line is Europe’s longest meter-gauge railway network and a national landmark. Services stopped in 2011 as a result of Greece’s debt crisis. During its heyday in the early 1900s, the railway, with stops at some of the most scenic spots in the Peloponnese, transported some 1.7 million passengers a year.
During the talks, Estermann expressed Switzerland’s interest in restoring the railway and pledged to support an ongoing feasibility study. The results of the study will be reviewed during a stakeholders meeting in Nafplio, at the end of the year.
Estermann also said he would be inviting Swiss experts experienced in managing metric mountain railway systems and in developing promotional programs for the project.
Referring to the project’s significance for passenger transport, culture, and tourism, Grammatidis said the ultimate goal was to restore connections to scenic and historically significant locations such as Corinth, Nafplio, Kalamata, Mycenae, and Ancient Olympia.
Earlier this year, a delegation of Greek and Swiss experts was given a tour of the OSE train station in Tripoli, in the heart of the Peloponnese, as part of talks for the revival of the historic railway.
