Line A3 is an Athens Suburban Railway (Proastiakos) service in Attica and Central Greece, operated by Hellenic Train. The service runs between and , with intermediate stations and halts in northern Attica and Boeotia: it runs concurrently with lines A1 and A4 out of Athens railway station, and also has an interchange with Line A2 at Acharnes Railway Center (SKA).
History
Regular passenger trains between (then Larissa Station) and began on 8 March 1904. By 1997, then-operator Hellenic Railways Organisation labeled the route as "suburban", alongside the (now-closed) metre-gauge –Loutraki service, albeit with no special branding.
Immediately following the creation of the Athens Suburban Railway in July 2004, there were plans to extend the network towards Chalcis and by as early as 2006; although test runs between Athens and Chalcis took place in 2009, the plan was repeatedly delayed. From 18 January 2012 to 29 July 2017, the Athens–Chalkida service was extended southward to Piraeus, due to the suspension of the Suburban Railway between Piraeus and .
TrainOSE started including services to Chalcis as part of the Suburban Railway network on 14 March 2012, with the service appearing on maps by the summer of that year. Electric train services using Class 460 electric multiple units were introduced on 30 July 2017, when the electrification of the Piraeus–Platy railway between and Athens was complete. The service was numbered as Line A3 on 1 August 2023.
Route
Line A3 is long, running between in the south and in the north, with intermediate stations and halts in northern Attica and Boeotia: the service uses the Piraeus–Platy railway from Athens to , largely parallel to the A1 motorway, before following the Oinoi–Chalcis railway towards Chalcis. The service runs concurrently with lines A1 and A4 between Athens and Acharnes Railway Center (SKA), but it does not stop at and : it also has an interchange with Line A2 at SKA.
, there are 11 pairs of trains per day, with a frequency of one train every two hours: however, the southern terminus for the first northbound and last southbound service is Oinoi, where a Line A3 train is stabled overnight. On weekdays, there is an extra pair of trains between Athens and during the morning rush hour, and two extra pairs along the full route in the early morning and early evening, increasing frequency to a peak of one train per hour.
Map
Stations
The spelling of the station names on this table, in English and Greek, are according to the signage.
† Terminal station# Interchange station× Under construction
StationStation Regional unitOpenedInterchanges and notesPositionAthina†# Central Athens 8 March 1904 Interchange with Lines A1 and A4 to Piraeus, Hellenic Train, and Athens Metro Line 2 at Larissa Station. # West Athens 8 August 2010 Interchange with Line A1 to , and Line A4 to .
This station opened as an infill station. Line A3 does not serve and .Acharnes Railway Center# East Attica 5 April 2011 Interchange with Line A2, and Hellenic Train.
This station opened as an infill station. East Attica 8 March 1904 East Attica 8 March 1904 Kryoneri× East Attica East Attica 8 March 1904 Afidnai East Attica 8 March 1904 East Attica 8 March 1904 East Attica 8 March 1904 East Attica 8 March 1904 Boeotia 27 October 1983 This station opened as an infill station. # Boeotia 8 March 1904 Interchange with Hellenic Train. Boeotia 6 April 2005 This station opened as an infill station. Boeotia 6 April 2005 This station opened as an infill station. Euboea 6 April 2005 This station opened as an infill station. Euboea 8 March 1904 Chalkida† Euboea 8 March 1904
See also Hellenic Railways Organisation Hellenic Train Proastiakos
References