Thirty-eight years after the initial idea for a metro in Thessaloniki, the project was handed over to the public on November 30 during a midday inauguration ceremony led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The Thessaloniki Metro features 13 stations, with its main line spanning 9.8 km. For four days, passengers can use the metro free of charge. From December 4 onwards, the ticket price will be 60 cents. 

Below is a timeline of its development:

⦁ 1986: Then-Mayor Sotiris Kouvelas envisioned the creation of a metro in Thessaloniki.

⦁ 1992: The project was tendered under a co-financing model with a concession contract.

⦁ 1999: The "Thessaloniki Metro" consortium was awarded the project, with the concession contract ratified by Parliament. However, the contract was terminated in 2002 due to funding issues.

⦁ 2001-2004: PASOK Minister Vasso Papandreou re-auctioned the project as a public work with EU funding.

⦁ 7 April 2006: Under the Karamanlis government, a contract worth 1.052 billion euros was signed with the AEGEK IMPREGILO-ANSALDO T.S.F.-SELI-ANSALDOBREDA consortium, with a planned completion by October 2012.

⦁ 30 November 2007: Minister George Souflias received the first of two tunnel boring machines ("metropods"), with the second arriving in 2008.

⦁ 2013: The Central Archaeological Council approved the removal and reinstallation of antiquities at Venizelos Station.

⦁ October 2015: The SYRIZA government decided to preserve the antiquities in situ, with the Central Archaeological Council approving the study in early 2017.

⦁ 7 September 2019: Newly elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the removal and repositioning of the finds at Venizelos Station. Legal appeals followed but were definitively rejected two years later.

(Photo: ΑΝΑ-MPA)

See also:
PM Mitsotakis inaugurates Thessaloniki Metro as operations begin
President Sakellaropoulou and PM Mitsotakis tour ancient findings at Thessaloniki's Venizelos metro station
The history of Thessaloniki Metro in pictures
Staikouras: Thessaloniki Metro marks historic moment; transforms city’s transport
Visiting Ministers from Germany, Cyprus, and Slovakia praise Thessaloniki Metro and its archaeological discoveries
PM Mitsotakis visits Venizelos Metro station ahead of inauguration ceremony
PM Mitsotakis to handover Thessaloniki Metro in presence of President Sakellaropoulou