Train routes in Greece
13 routes · classic 9 · scenic 2 · heritage 1 · mountain 1
13 routes cross Greece in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the Hellenic InterCity at 481 km; the fastest is the Hellenic InterCity, running up to 200 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1874. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
Open the world railway map →Part of the Europe train map: every route on the continent, one map.
Classic (9)
- Hellenic InterCity
Past Thermopylae and under Mount Olympus. Greece’s spine line, now run by tilting Italian arrows.
Wikipedia ↗ - Evros Line
Two and a half hours up the Evros with Turkey out of the right-hand window the whole way, on a line the Oriental Railway opened in 1874 and a border drawn across it in 1923.
- Proastiakos
Athens’s fast electric suburban line skirts the Saronic Gulf and crosses the Corinth Canal on its run from the port of Piraeus out to Kiato, and since 2020 on along the Gulf of Corinth to Aigio.
Wikipedia ↗ - Thrace InterCity
Greece’s only train across Thrace: 440 km laid in 1896 for the Salonika–Constantinople railway, threading the Nestos gorge between Drama and Xanthi.
Wikipedia ↗ - Thessaloniki–Florina
West on the 1894 Salonika–Monastir line: orchard country past Veroia, Edessa of the waterfalls, then the high lakes plateau to Florina.
Wikipedia ↗ - Proastiakos Patras Π2
Eight metre-gauge kilometres north along the Gulf of Patras to Rio, under the cables of the Rio–Antirrio bridge, on track reopened for the suburban in July 2010.
Wikipedia (EL) ↗ - Proastiakos Patras Π1
West out of Patras on the old metre-gauge Pyrgos line, running the beach villages of the Achaean coast to Kato Achaia, which got its trains back in February 2020.
Wikipedia (EL) ↗ - Athens–Chalkida
Athens’s other suburban artery: up the mainline past Oinoi, then the 1904 branch down to the Euripus strait at Chalkida, the gateway to Evia.
Wikipedia ↗ - Proastiakos Airport Line
Port to plane on one ticket: from Piraeus through central Athens, then east along the Attiki Odos motorway median to the airport at Spata.
Wikipedia ↗
Scenic (2)
- Palaiofarsalos–Kalambaka
The branch to the monasteries in the sky: from the junction at Palaiofarsalos across the Thessalian plain to Kalambaka, beneath the sandstone pillars of Meteora. Storm Daniel damaged the line in September 2023, and until it is repaired buses replace the trains from Palaiofarsalos.
Wikipedia ↗ - Katakolo–Olympia Train
Greece’s first provincial railway (1882–83) reborn as a cruise shuttle: a metre-gauge railcar links Katakolo’s quay with the sanctuary of Ancient Olympia.
Wikipedia (EL) ↗
Heritage (1)
- Pelion Railway
Evaristo de Chirico’s 600 mm mountain railway on Mt Pelion curls over his iron-and-stone bridge near Milies through olive and apple groves.
Wikipedia ↗
Mountain (1)
- Odontotos Rack Railway
An 1896 rack line climbs 700 m up the sheer Vouraikos gorge to Kalavryta, through tunnels and along ledges cut above the torrent.
Wikipedia ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons; each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in Greece?
The Hellenic InterCity, running Athens to Thessaloniki at up to 200 km/h. It is one of 13 routes in Greece in this atlas.
Are there night trains in Greece?
Not in this atlas. Greece has 13 routes here and none of them is a scheduled sleeper, though night trains from neighbouring countries may still reach it.
Can you cross the border by train from Greece?
No route in this atlas crosses a land border out of Greece. Every line listed here begins and ends inside the country.
Which is the most scenic railway in Greece?
Greece has 3 scenic or mountain lines in this atlas. The longest is the Palaiofarsalos–Kalambaka, 80 km.