- Athens Metro Line 4 faces delays, with completion now at least 2-3 years late
- The original 2029 finish date was pushed back, likely to the early 2030s
- Access to key stations blocked by court battles and state holdups
- Tunnel boring machines “Nike” and “Athena” making slow but steady progress underground
- Some stations affected by ongoing archaeological digs and clashing infrastructure
- The line is planned to stretch 38.2 kilometers with 35 stations over five sections
- Expected benefits include big drops in traffic and carbon emissions
- The project remains a familiar tale of slow progress and bureaucracy
Delays in construction projects are as Greek as feta cheese. True to form, the Athens Metro Line 4 project has now made missing deadlines its main sport. The “U-shaped” Line 4 was pitched to run from Alsos Veikou to Maroussi with 35 stations over 38.2 kilometers, untangling Athens traffic and making life easier for tourists and locals. Now, after years of work, the finish line keeps moving. Those hoping for a metro ride before 2029 will have plenty of time to grow old waiting.
The story unfolds with Greek contractor AVAX stuck without control of three critical station sites. Complaints and legal back-and-forth with annoyed residents only added more wait time. Hellenic Metro took four years to hand over the Exarchia site, and even then, only 80% of it after being dragged to court by locals who love their metro construction out of sight and underground.
Tunnel Boring, Court Battles, and Bureaucracy
Nikos Spyridonakos, AVAX’s project manager, gave reporters a rare tour down the Veikos shaft. As he pointed out “Nike” and “Athena”—the tunnel boring divas of the day—he said, “We have completed 1.4 kilometers with Nike, about 20% of its designated route.” On the other front, “Athena” has chewed her way through 3.2 kilometers, putting her at 60% done and likely to finish by year’s end. Each machine clears about 15 meters per day, with crews laboring 35 meters below the surface, shoveling out 2,000 tons of mud daily. Engineer Stelios Mouskos summed up the underground adventure: “It’s dirty work, but someone has to do it.”
There’s not much digging happening at Evangelismos, University Campus, or Goudi stations, thanks to endless archeological findings and dueling pipes and cables. The excavation in these areas has slowed to a crawl as officials tiptoe around every ancient pot and infrastructure hurdle.
Massive Plans, Modest Progress
The grand vision for Athens Metro Line 4 is as ambitious as it is delayed. The project is split into five sections:
- Section A: Alsos Veikou to Goudi, covering 12.8km with 15 stations
- Section B: Goudi to Maroussi, 9.6km, eight stations
- Section C: Evangelismos to Ano Ilioupoli, 4.1km, three stations
- Section D: Alsos Veikou to Petroupoli, 7.5km, six stations
- Section E: Maroussi to National Road, 4.4km, three stations
Once finished (sometime before the next millennium, maybe), the metro’s environmental impact could be substantial, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 318 tons each day and lowering energy use by 1,216 megawatt-hours—numbers that should impress if anyone lives to see it open. This project is set to add to the relief Athens has already seen from traffic jams over the past two decades, assuming it ever gets past the endless parade of delays.
If you’re a tourist hoping to catch a fast train from leafy Galatsi to the National Road, or a resident tired of gridlock in the city’s center, you’ll want to watch this saga as it unfolds—at a glacial pace. After all, in Athens, patience is always part of the ticket price when it comes to public works.
