Proastiako railway to reach Xylokastro
Transport Minister Mihalis Liapis on Friday announced that the Proastiako suburban railway will be extended to the coastal town of Xylokastro in the Peloponnese, predicting that the Kiato-Xylokastro line and station would be ready by the end of 2009. He also announced that the line to Kiato will be ready by June and a system to make the railway electrically powered is due to be delivered in 2008 and would greatly increase its speed. He made the statement during an event held in Xylokastro to mark his visit, during which he inspected the progress of work underway on the line extension. According to the minister, the journey from Xylokastro to Athens would take roughly an hour and a half, with trains running every half hour. He said the new service would greatly enhance the area's growth and offer residents of west Corinth a safe, cheap, fast and modern means of transport. The event was also attended by Justice Minister Anastasios Papaligouras, who thanked Liapis for his efforts to quickly resolve various problems and begin work on the extension to Xylokastro, stressing the many positive spin-offs that this would bring for the area. During his inspection, Liapis asked an ERGOSE work team to speed up the work as much as possible to ensure the greatest possible absorption of Community funds.
