Prague has finally opened the metro after half a century, the construction was complicated by excavations

Thessaloniki - After nearly half a century, Thessaloniki has finally received its first metro line. The second largest city in Greece, home to approximately 320,000 people, now operates a line with 13 stations and fully automated trains, reports Reuters. The construction, which began in 2006, was complicated by archaeological finds and the prolonged financial crisis that the country faced in the last decade.

Before the launch of the metro this afternoon, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Katerina Sakellaropoulos visited the site. The metro, which has a capacity of transporting up to 250,000 people daily, is expected to significantly ease traffic in Thessaloniki, which has a population similar to Brno. It is planned that the current line will be extended in the future.

The first plans for the construction of the metro were approved in 1976, but construction work did not start until 2006 and lasted nearly 20 years. The almost ten-kilometer long line had to contend with rich archaeological discoveries. During construction, workers found structures and remnants from the days of ancient Rome and the Byzantine period. Some of these have been incorporated into the metro stations.

The construction was also complicated by a public budget crisis that forced the Greek state to cut expenditures. The length of the work led to ridicule and satirical remarks in Greece.

During the launch of operations today, Mitsotakis stated that the metro construction cost three billion euros (approximately 75 billion CZK). However, it is unclear from the Prime Minister's statement whether this amount also includes the procurement of the trains for the metro. For comparison, the construction of Prague's Metro D in the section from Pankrac to Nové Dvory, which is 4.6 kilometers long, is expected to cost 52 billion crowns according to the approved budget from 2021.