By G. Hatzilidis
[email protected]
Two westwards extensions on the under-construction metro line in the northern city of Thessaloniki, along with an above-ground portion to an airport to the east of the metropolis, will cost between 1.2 to 1.3 billion euros, a relevant transports and infrastructure minister said on Friday.
Minister Christos Spirtzis made the statement during a "photo-op" at a metro worksite, timed with the arrival of a massive boring machine at an underground station.
A tender for the extension towards western Thessaloniki will come this year, he said, with the first leg being 4.4 kilometers in length, and the second five kilometers.
The entire Thessaloniki metro project has been decades in the making, with non-stop construction coming only over the past five years or so.
According to reports, Thessaloniki is one of the few cities in the eurozone with a population of above one million residents that does not have a underground metro line.
