Freight carriers eye domestic rail network

Greece's railway sector only accounts for 1 percent of all journeys travelled by passengers and 1.5 percent of freight transported per kilometer, leaving its rail market even smaller than that of Luxembourg, data from the country's Rail Regulatory Authority (RAS) has shown.

In Luxembourg, which is roughly the size of Pella prefecture in northern Greece, rail accounts for 4.7 percent of all passenger kilometers and 2.2 percent of tonne kilometers. Even countries that are much smaller in terms of size and population like Estonia and Croatia transport more people and freight per kilometer than Greece, the laggard in rail transport in the EU.

The national rail market has considerable growth potential, however, as evidenced by the Italian acquisition of rail operator TrainOSE and its interest in the railway carriage maintenance company Rosco. On top of that, other companies...