Thessaloniki Regional Railway


The Thessaloniki Regional Railway, formerly the Thessaloniki Suburban Railway until 2023, is a three-line Proastiakos commuter rail service connecting the city of Thessaloniki with its metropolitan area and other regions beyond, including Imathia, Pella and Serres.
Unlike the Athens Suburban Railway, the three lines served are rather medium-distance regional rail connections on three major axes to Edessa and Serres, Central Macedonia, and Larissa, Thessaly. Thessaloniki metropolitan area itself is served by the Metro Thessaloniki, which opened in 2024.

History

The Thessaloniki Regional Railway started operations on 9 September 2007 with the first line Thessaloniki-Katerini-Litochoro connecting the urban centers of Thessaloniki, Katerini, and the beaches of South Pieria and was the first suburban connection of areas outside Athens.
On 7 September 2008, with the completion of the electric drive in the Thessaloniki-Domokos section, the line was extended to Larissa. Later, the already existing line Thessaloniki-Edessa via Veria was included as a suburban one with the prospect of electrification in the near future. At the same time, in May 2008, the preliminary feasibility study of the 'SUBURBAN REGIONAL RAILWAY OF THESSALONIKI' was completed, in which the new railway connection Thessaloniki - Pella through Giannitsa was included. This study, which was updated in March 2018 at a relevant conference in Giannitsa, awaits its finalization in accordance with the commitment of the Prime Minister, at the regional development conference for Central Macedonia held in March 2018 in Thessaloniki.
On February 3, 2020, a third suburban line was inaugurated that connects Thessaloniki with Serres.
On the 4 November 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic many services across the network were suspended.

Lines and services

, the Thessaloniki Regional Railway consists of three lines:
  • Line T1 connects and, with some trains starting at.
  • Line T2 runs between Thessaloniki and Florina, with some trains starting at.
  • Line T3 connects and.
Trains run from approximately 6:00 am to 22:00 pm daily on a fairly irregular basis, roughly once an hour. Lines T1 and T2, however somewhat complement each other between Thessaloniki and Platy. On 17 July 2014 services were cut back from eight to six services a day from Thessaloniki To Edessa.
RouteOpeningRouteLengthElectricTop SpeedStations
7 September 2007

7 September 2008
Yes12
25 January 2008

10 August 2013
No17
3 February 2020 DramaNo20

List of stations

The spelling of the station names on this table, in English and Greek, are according to the signage.
Terminal station
#Interchange station

The Regional railway connects with other rail services at the following stations:
#StationLinesServicesConnectionsRegional unit
1Adendro #Athens–Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki–Bitola
Thessaloniki
2AiginioAthens–ThessalonikiPieria
3AlexandreiaThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
4ChersoThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliKilkis
5DoiraniThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliKilkis
6EdessaThessaloniki–BitolaPella
7EpiskopiThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
8GallikosThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliKilkis
9HersosThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliKilkis
10KastanoussaThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
11KateriniAthens–ThessalonikiPieria
12KefalochoriThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
13KilkisThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliKilkis
14KorinosAthens–ThessalonikiPieria
15KoulouraThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
16Larissa †#Athens–ThessalonikiLarissa
17LeptokaryaAthens–ThessalonikiPieria
18LianovergiThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
19LitochoroAthens–ThessalonikiPieria
20LoutrosThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
21MandhrakiThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
22MesiThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
23MetallikoThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliKilkis
24MouriesThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliKilkis
25NaousaThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
26Nea FiladelfeiaThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliThessaloniki
27Neo PetritsiThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
28Neoi PoroiAthens–ThessalonikiPieria
29Omalo ThrakisThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
30PedinoThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliKilkis
31PetreaThessaloniki–BitolaPella
32Platy #Athens–Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki–Bitola
Imathia
33RapsaniAthens–ThessalonikiLarissa
34RodopolisThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
35SerresThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
36SidirokastroThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
37SindosAthens–Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki–Bitola
Thessaloniki
38SkotoussaThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
39SkydraThessaloniki–BitolaPella
40StrumaThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
41Thessaloniki †#Athens–Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki–Bitola
Thessaloniki
42VeriaThessaloniki–BitolaImathia
43VyroneiaThessaloniki–AlexandroupoliSerres
44XechasmeniThessaloniki–BitolaImathia

Thessaloniki-Larissa Line

The Line connects the Macedonian regional capital with the Thessalian regional capital. It has a total of 12 stations and is displayed in blue on TRAINOSE maps. It was inaugurated on 9 September 2007 and initially connected Thessaloniki with Katerini and the beaches of South Pieria and Litochoro, while on 7 September 2008 with the completion of the electrification of the Thessaloniki-Domokos section of track services were extended to Larissa. The section Thessaloniki-Katerini-Litochoro is the first suburban connection outside of Athens. Today, services commence from Thessaloniki station passes through Sindos, Adendro, and Platy, where it is separated from the line Thessaloniki - Edessa, continues southeast to Korinos, the city of Katerini, Litochoro, and then south to Neos Resources of Pieria. Finally, it passes east of Rapsani, through Tempi, and after crossing the Evangelism of Larissa, it ends in the city of Larissa. The line connects the urban centres of Thessaloniki, Katerini, and Larissa, as well as Pieria's southern coast, thus connecting Central Macedonia's areas with Thessaly. In the future, the construction of an intermediate stop in Panteleimon between Neoi Poroi and Leptokarya is foreseen for the re-service of Platamonas.

Thessaloniki-Florina Line

The Line connects the Macedonian regional capital with Florina in Western Macedonia. It has a total of 25 stations and is displayed in red on TRAINOSE maps. It was inaugurated in 2010 and initially connected Thessaloniki with Veria and Edessa. Later, the route to and from Florina was included in the line, which was initially operated by regional trains. In May 2008, the already existing line Thessaloniki-Edessa via Veria Line was included as a suburban service with the prospect of electrification in the near future.
Today, the service begins from Thessaloniki station, passing through Sindos, Adendro, and Plati Imathia, where it is separated from the Athens - Thessaloniki line, continues southwest to Veria, north to Naoussa and Skydra, and then west to Edessa and Lamb. Then, it continues southwest along Lake Vegoritida to Amyntaio, and after turning north to Vevi, it heads west for the last time to reach Florina. The line connected the urban centres of Thessaloniki, Veria, Florina, and Edessa as well as the waterfalls of the same name, thus uniting areas of Central and Western Macedonia.

Thessaloniki-Drama Line

The Line connects the Macedonian regional capital with its second-largest city Serres and terminates at Drama. It has a total of 20 stations and is displayed in light blue on TRAINOSE maps. Services commenced on 3 February 2020 on what is the 3rd line of the Thessaloniki suburban network, forming the daily connection of the cities with existing intermediate stations.

Rolling stock

Proastiakos uses rolling stock owned by GAIAOSE and maintained by Hellenic Train. Siemens Desiro 5-car electric multiple units are used for the Thessaloniki-Larissa services, while MAN-2000 diesel two-car multiple units are used for the unnelectrified Thessaloniki-Edessa-Florina and Thessaloniki-Serres services, although can be occasionally seen on the Larissa service to either add extra capacity in cases of rolling stock unavailability or electrification problems.
In December 2025, Hellenic Train ordered 23 Alstom Coradia Stream EMUs, 11 of which are to be implemented on services in the Athens and Thessaloniki Proastiakos networks, to boost efficacy, capacity and frequency, as well as to accommodate upcoming network expansions. The first units are expected to enter service within the second trimester of 2027.

Future expansion

In May 2008, the Greek government's National Transport Plan outlined the aspiration for a second link to Edessa, via Giannitsa serving Chalkidona and Pella along the way, of in length allowing a 30-minute reduction in journey time. This study, which was updated in March 2018 at a relevant conference in Giannitsa, awaits its finalization in accordance with the commitment of the then Prime Minister, at the regional development conference for Central Macedonia held in March 2018. Other projects include: