Trip to the Peloponnese peninsula - September 2016
General Notes
Originally the railway network on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece extended to some 731 km of metre gauge track, including the main line from Piraeus and Athína (Athens); however the line through from Piraeus to Kiato had been rebuilt to standard gauge by 2007 so I never travelled over the metre gauge route over that section. The Greek financial crisis of 2010 caused most of the metre gauge routes to be closed and most have never re-opened; the continuation of the conversion of the standard gauge from Kiato on towards Patra has been heavily delayed.
I was on an excellent privately organised 5-day railtour in April 2013 which covered almost all of the available track - see photos. The missing section, the branch from Kalamata/Asprohoma to Messini, was deemed unsuitable for use by the locomotive-hauled railtour but it did see usage by DMUs during a religious festival each September. This four-day trip in 2016 was planned to coincide with this festival, and a hire car was arranged to visit other parts of the peninsula that I considered worth further investigation. Unfortunately the trains didn't run, as will be seen, but it was a very interesting few days anyway.
For a map of the network, please follow this link. Photo album from this trip here.
Operating Company Abbreviations:
- GTR - Govia Thameslink Railway (operator of the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise)
- OSE - Organismos Sidirodromon Ellados (Greek National Railways)
| Place | Arrive | Depart | Train | Traction details & notes |
Friday 23 September 2016
| Timperley | 20:15 | Metrolink tram | ||
| Manchester Piccadilly | 20:45 | 21:15 | Virgin Trains class 390 Pendolino | |
| London Euston | 23:51 | Today's photos | ||
| Notes: Heading to Gatwick Airport via London Euston. |
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| Overnight: Hotel Neda in Olympia. | ||||
Saturday 24 September 2016
| St Pancras Thameslink | 00:24 | GTR EMU | ||
| Gatwick Airport | 01:09 | |||
| Gatwick South Terminal (LGW) | 05:40 | EZY 5451 | Easyjet | |
| Kalamata (KLX) | 11:20 | |||
| Hire car pick-up at Kalamata airport. First, drive to Messini station to see if the trains are running - clearly not! Some sort of track washout.... then to the junction at Asprohoma, no traffic here on either route for a very long time. Lunch in Kalamata. Then drove to Olympia and stayed at the same hotel (Hotel Neda) that we stayed at on the 2013 trip. Time to have a good look around the archaeological site at Olympia, including viewing where the Statue of Zeus used to be - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Today's photos. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Neda, Olympia. | ||||
Sunday 25 September 2016
| Today I drove from Olympia to Diakofto looking at various sections of closed railway en route: Olympia - Alfios - Katakolo - Kavasila - Kardiakafti - Vartholomio - Killini - Neochori - Rio - Rodini - Neos Erineos - Diakofto. Kavasila to Killini was a branch off the Patra - Pyrgos line and closed in 1996. I couldn't find any trace of the old station at Loutra, a branch (closed 1969) from Vartholomio on the Kavasila - Killini line. I didn't call in at Patra, partly due to lack of time and partly because this had been explored on the April 2013 trip. East of Patra towards Diakofto and Kiato the old metre gauge line closed in 2007 and is now being converted to standard gauge: sometimes on the old alignment, sometimes on a completely new alignment. Overnight in Diakofto. Today's photos. |
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| Overnight: Chris Paul Hotel, Diakofto. |
Monday 26 September 2016
| Diakofto | 08:45 | 1330 | OSE DMU 3109 + 3509 + 3209 750mm gauge part rack | |
| Kalavryta | 09:41 | 09:57 | 1331 | OSE DMU 3209 + 3509 + 3109 750mm gauge part rack |
| Diakofto | 10:46 | |||
| Firstly today I had another ride on the 750 mm gauge part-rack railway from Diakofto to Kalavryta and back - if only to do some train travel during the trip. Very scenic and very enjoyable. Then I drove from Diakofto to Tripoli looking at various sections of closed railway en route: Kiato - Korinthos - Korinth Canal - Isthmos - Loutraki - Nafplio - Mili - Achlodokampos - Tripoli. The Isthmos - Loutraki branch is supposed to be being reconstructed as a standard gauge route, ready for re-opening in 2021. Though Nafplio was visited by the railtour in April 2013, this second visit gave chance to view the original station in the town. The viaduct at Achlodokampos was visited to look again at the 1944-1974 temporary alignment there. Overnight in Tripoli, with a look at the station. Today's photos. |
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| Overnight: Hotel Alex, Tripoli. | ||||
Tuesday 27 September 2016
| Day 4 of this trip was simply the return journey from Tripoli to catch the flight back from Kalamata airport. En route a visit was made to Megalopolis, the terminus of the branch from Lefktro on the Kalamata - Korinthos line. I had previously visited this location on the April 2013 railtour. Today's photos. | ||||
| Kalamata (KLX) | 12:00 | EZY 5452 | Easyjet | |
| Gatwick South Terminal (LGW) | 13:45 | 16:38 | GTR EMU | |
| St Pancras Thameslink | 17:45 | |||
| London Euston | 19:00 | Virgin Trains class 390 Pendolino | ||
| Manchester Piccadilly | 21:04 | ??:?? | Metrolink tram | |
| Timperley | ??:?? | |||