Athens Airport to Piraeus - new rail link
 

In case anyone is interested I've just read that a new direct rail link between the airport and Piraeus was inaugurated yesterday.

It is doing test runs at the moment, the journey will take 50 minutes and costs 6 euros. It will be a one hourly service at the moment although they say the frequency of trips will increase.

I can't figure out yet from the announcement if it is the metro or the sunburban rail service that is operating the route.

milley

It is the suburban rail service. In addition to Piraeus, there are three new stops in Lefka, Rendi, and Rouf.

Thanks Eleni

I just couldn't figure out which it was.

Hopefully it will be good news for folks looking for an alternative to the coach or taxi services.

milley

You're welcome!

I think it's very good news, and will make things a lot easier for folks who are arriving in Athens and heading directly to a ferry or a cruise ship.

Is that the same one that goes near Kiffisia and stops at Larrisis?

If so, those are great cars and comfortable trains.

Yes, it is the same one. The line has been extended to make the direct link between the airport and Piraeus. They are working on completing a rail link between Athens and Patras, but that isn't supposed to be done until 2010 at the earliest.

I read something about this new rail between Athen's Airport and Piraeus... but do you know if it is already working? is there a website where it is possible to see timetables? thanks

@ GeoffHamer: Thanks a lot!! last question: is the railway station right at the Airport? I mean... you walk there I guess.. Thx again!

Right across the street. Try this map.

http://www.aia.gr/flash_files/imap.asp

Thank you so much Repete! I had found something on a Greek website... but could not understand one single word :(

I read about this too, but I haven't anywhere been able to find out a crucial piece of information: where does this train stop in Piraeus? This is very important since Piraeus can be utter hell to walk around in. The bus gets you right to the docks where the boats to the most popular islands leave. Does the new train?

does anyone know if this goes to Zea ?

ReadytoGoNow --
Do you mean the island of TZIA or KEA?

The ferries there go only from Lavrio, which is a real pain to reach ... either
(1)have to go from Bus Station (Victoria?) and one has no way to find out when the busses run or how long it takes or

(2)Get to Airport & take a bus from there (supposedly express but NOT!!); on a nonbusy monday afternoon, it took me 90 minutes... had to get off half-way and wait for a 2nd bus. However, if u take a taxi fsrom Airport itcan cost u 20E or so. NO good answer.

ReadyToGoNow means Zea Harbor in Piraeus. I believe the new rail link will be stopping at the metro station which is located just across from the Cyclades docks in the Great Harbor. An easy walk to the Cyclades ferries, but you will probably have to take a taxi from there to Zea Harbor.

Recently (I'm not sure when, but this month was the first time I noticed it) there has been a pedestrian overpass, with escalators, built from the Piraeus metro stop leading over to the dock area. This is an extremely useful development, since you don't have to cross the street on street level. How bad can crossing the street be? Until you've tried crossing one of Piraeus's streets on foot in the hot sun, you have no idea how bad crossing the street can be.

The bad news is that if you do have to cross a Piraeus street for some reason, the traffic is worse than it ever was. For the first time in many years of going through Piraeus, I'm finding that at many intersections it's IMPOSSIBLE to cross with the walk light -- drivers routinely simply stop blocking the crosswalks, or even just keep going right through them. The traffic situation in Piraeus is more what you'd expect in some ramshackle chaotic third world country than in a longstanding EU member. So be careful if you have to walk around there. (It's a little known fact that in modern Greek the word for "pedestrian" is the same as the word for "target.")

thank you travelerjan,littlebigshot and heimdall !

I'm sorry I wasn't more clear about what I needed to know

I'm taking an easy cruise from Marina Zea, Piraeus and it looked like the cab fare was 40-50 Euro from airport. Wondered if I could take a bus or train to at least somewhere close and THEN get a cab to the ship. Thanks again

You can take a bus from the airport which stops at the Cyclades docks, or the train we have been discussing on this thread. Either way you will be less than 1km from Zea Marina. Then take a taxi to Zea.

thank you so much for info Heimdall ! happy travels !

ReadyToGoNow, if you are interested, here is an aerial photo of Piraeus: http://tinyurl.com/357ufe. The Great Harbor is at the center of the photo, and Zea Marina is the smaller round harbor to the right. The bus stop and metro station are near the top right of the Great Harbor.