Inflow of water and 19 pages with problems in the hands of those in charge. Safety issue for thousands of passengers
On Monday, October 10, 2022, in a much-publicized inauguration ceremony in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the then Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Kostas Ah. Karamanlis, who spoke of a “construction achievement”, of at least half of the cabinet and the majority of MPs, the three new stations of Line 3 of the metro “Maniatika”, “Piraeus” and “Municipal Theater” were officially put into operation, thus uniting the largest port with “Eleftherios Venizelos”, the largest airport of the country.
The overall project involved a 7.55 km long tunnel with six new stations (“Agia Varvara”, “Korydallos”, “Nicaia”, “Maniatika”, “Piraeus”, “Municipal Theatre”), with the second phase of the project from Nice to the Municipal Theatre, 3.5 km long, and the last three stations to be delivered the day following the inauguration. It is an important infrastructure project for the country, used on a daily basis by hundreds of thousands of citizens of the Attica basin, changing their habits and daily life, as well as by the thousands of tourists who visit it or transit through it, using ships and planes. in order to reach the final tourist destinations of the country.
For the largest metro project in Athens (in the decade 2012-2022), the contracting authority was Attiko Metro S.A., with the construction being undertaken by the Greek-Italian-French consortium of the construction companies AVAX – GHELLA – ALSTOM, supervised by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. This is the same consortium that has undertaken the construction of the new Line 4 of the metro (Alsos Veikou – Goudi). With the participation of the ALSTOM company, which has also undertaken the “haunted” implementation of the contract-broom “717” of ERGOSE for the remote control-signaling system that was signed in 2014 and if it had been delivered, we might have avoided the Tempe accident.
However, just five months following the delivery and operation of the entire so important extension of Line 3 of the metro to Piraeus, the journalistic research team of “Data Journalists” brings to light a report that highlights yet another case where the daily safety, both of the passenger public as well as the personnel responsible for its operation, is conditional, as sensors out of order, problems in electronic systems-monitors and a malfunction in the fire detection were detected, among other things.
And this is because in the much-publicized “construction achievement” that cost 470,000,000 euros (without VAT) and was recently put into operation, the report that is coming to the public records 391 damages and inflow of sea water from the port of Piraeus on this new line. Not one, not two, a total of 19 pages with failures and breakdowns are, therefore, in the hands of those responsible, highlighting that the big issue of the safety of thousands of passengers is getting…
According to what the research reports, the inflow of sea water in the section of the railway tunnel located between the “Piraeus” and “Municipal Theater” stations made its presence felt for the first time shortly following the opening, in November, through a strong stench. Initially the technicians of STA.SY. (Fixed Communications) thought it was a leak from some sewage network that passes through the area. The stagnant water, in addition to the stench, soon began to cause severe oxidation to various metal elements of the railway infrastructure, rails, sleepers, switches, etc. The problem was put under surveillance, highlighting additional failures, even in the concreting of the “construction achievement” itself.
{{-PCOUNT-}}12{{-PCOUNT-}}