The greater Athens-Piraeus area, which hosts almost half of Greece’s roughly 11 million residents, will see the welcome addition of 18 new underground metro stations by the end of the decade with the completion of Line 4.

The Greek capital’s proverbial traffic jams and congestion were markedly rolled back – but not completely ended – over the past two decades, with the additions of the 21st century Lines 2 and 3, and decades after the first electric train (Line 1) came into use in the urban area.

The horseshoe-shaped line 4 will connect the Alsos Veikou terminus, in the north-central Athens municipality of Galatsi, with the Goudi district, in east Athens. The line is slated for completion in 2030, with digging having recently commenced.

The first leg of the new line will extend for 13 kilometers and include 15 stations, with half in downtown Athens and a stop at the main Athens University campus in the Zografou district.

Meanwhile, three more stations and a four-kilometer extension of Line 2 westwards, in the working-class districts of Ilion and Peristeri, is envisioned in the coming second-phase tender for the specific project.

This project includes a provision for completion in 57 months once the final contract is signed.