Rail transport

Construction works at the tunnels of Thessaloniki’s unfinished metro resumed on March 28 after four years of inaction due to legal and financial problems, the Infrastructure ministry announced.

Infrastructure Minister Christos Spirtzis inaugurated the operation of the first Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) named “Hercules” at the main section of the tunnels.

There will be no services on Athens metro station on Thursday due to a 24-hour strike.

Athens metro staff are protesting against the “undermining of structures and infrastructure and the targeting of STASY staff.”

Controlled explosions of suspicious packages and evacuations are taking place across Brussels after the deadly terrorist attacks in the Belgian capital on Tuesday.

The intense red colour of the train wagons weaving through countless tunnels disappearing in the snowy Alps is a scene right out of a fantasy train ride in a Walt Disney film! The ‘Bernina Express’ has 55 tunnels and crosses 196 bridges in the stunning Alps mountain! The peak of the train ride route is the Ospizio Bernina at 2 thousand meters above sea water.

The director of Siemens Turkey's high speed trains department has said the company plans to bid in a tender expected to be opened by the Transport Ministry to buy a total of 80 high speed trains in mid-2016. 

"We want to bid and we are evaluating the process now," said Siemens' Cüneyt Genç in an interview with Reuters. 

Istanbul's historical Haydarpa?a Train Station will remain as a train station and go into service as the first station of Turkey's under-construction fast train network, according to plans approved by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

Three out of 16 cars of an international freight train derailed on Thursday morning and turned over at the entrance to the town of Cicevac, central Serbia.

Nobody was injured in the accident. Unofficially, the derailment happened as the slow moving train, transporting sugar and moving from the direction of Belgrade, was being switched to another track.

The the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and the Greek Civil Servants’ Confederation (ADEDY) will hold a strike on February 4 to protest against the government’s planned social security reforms.

Public transport is also disrupted on Tuesday, February 2, as there are no services on the Athens metro, tram, electric railway (ISAP) between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The price of the single fare on Athens public transport will rise from 1.20 euros to 1.40 euros as of February 1, while the discount fare will remain at 0.60 euros, the Athens public transport organisation OASA announced on Wednesday.

The price hike is the result of an increase in VAT.

A freight trained derailed near the Bulgarian town of Dupnitsa shortly after midnight on Saturday as it was entering the railway station.

No people have been injured in the incident, but the derailment caused a considerable damage to the infrastructure.