Transport in Greece

Metro Line 1, the oldest Metro line of Athens Urban area

Transport in Greece has undergone significant changes in the past two decades, vastly modernizing the country's infrastructure and transportation. Although ferry transport between islands remains the prominent method of transport between the nation's islands, improvements to the road infrastructure, rail, urban transport, and airports have all led to a vast improvement in transportation. These upgrades have played a key role in supporting Greece's economy, which in the past decade has come to rely heavily on the construction industry.

Cable transport

Lycabettus railway car

Cable car of Santorini

Rail transport

Railways

total: 2,571 km (1,598 mi), (764 km or 475 mi are, or will be, electrified)
standard gauge: 1,565 km (972 mi) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge
narrow gauge: 961 km (597 mi) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauge; 22 km (14 mi) 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) gauge
dual gauge: 23 km (14 mi) combined 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) gauges (three rail system) (2004)

The state-owned company that owns and maintains Greece's railway network is OSE, while Hellenic Train is the company responsible for operating all passenger trains and the most freight trains.

Metro

Athens Metro Train (1st Generation)

Cities with a rapid transit railway network:

Athens Metro (3 lines) (another one under construction)
Thessaloniki Metro (2 lines) ( both under construction)

Commuter rail

Proastiakos commuter rail

Cities with a commuter rail network (Proastiakos):

Athens (5 lines)
Thessaloniki (2 lines)
Patras (2 lines)

Tram

Athens Tram

Road transport

Highways

A2 (Egnatia Odos) motorway

Moreas Motorway.

Attiki Odos, near the Athens International Airport

As of 2017, Greece has 2500 km of motorways.

Roads:

total: 117,000 km
paved: 107,406 km
unpaved: 9,594 km (1996 est.)
over 2500 tunnels (est.)

Bus transport

Urban bus transport

Preserved vintage trolleybus of O.SY., Piraeus-Kastella line

OSY subsidiary of Transport for Athens (OASA) organizes mass bus (Busses and trolleybuses) transit in Athens.
OASTH organizes mass bus transit in Thessaloniki.
Companies named Astiko KTEL provide mass bus transit in many of the other cities of Greece.

Intercity and regional bus transport

KTEL is the common name for every company which is responsible for intercity and regional bus transit. Most of the regional units, though, have their own regional network of buses, and have their regional unit names labeled on KTEL vehicles that operate there. (e.g. KTEL Argolidas).

There are 4 major bus terminals in Greece, the biggest is in Thessaloniki (Macedonia Inter city bus terminal) which serves all of Greece while Athens has 2 separate bus terminals serving different parts of Greece (Kifissos bus terminal and Liossion bus terminal). A new Athens bus terminal in Elaionas will replace the two separate terminals and serve all of Greece with completion by 2025. A new bus terminal in Patras which will replace the old one is currently under construction in Agios Dionyssios just 200m from the current one and it will open in early 2023 after many delays due to COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Water transport

Waterways

View of the port of Patras

The 80 km system consists of three coastal canals including the Corinth Canal (6 km) and three unconnected rivers.

The Corinth Canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth, connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf; and shortens the sea voyage from the Adriatic to Piraeus by 325 km.

Ports and harbours

Merchant marine

total: 3,338 ships (with a volume of 1,000 gross tonnage (GT) or over) totaling 109,377,819 GT/182,540,868 tonnes deadweight (DWT)
ships by type (1999 est.)

bulk carrier: 273
cargo ship: 60
chemical tanker: 22
combination bulk: 5
combination ore/oil: 8
container ship: 43
Liquified Gas Carrier: 5
multi-functional large load carrier: 1
passenger ship: 12
passenger/cargo: 2
petroleum tanker: 245
refrigerated cargo: 3
roll-on/roll-off ship: 19
short-sea passenger: 75
specialized tanker: 4
vehicle carrier: 2

Airports

Thessaloniki International Airport

total: 82 (2005)
With paved runways: 67

over 3,047 m: 5
2,438–3,047 m: 16
1,524–2,437 m: 19
914–1,523 m: 17
under 914 m: 10 (2005)

With unpaved runways: 15

914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 12 (2005)

heliports: 8 (2005)

Pipelines

crude oil: 26 km
petroleum products: 547 km

Major construction projects