The agreement should expand the service, while Trainose buys more trains and improves the quality of service. On April 14, Mr. Costas Karamanlis, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of Greece, Mr. Christos Staikouras, Minister of Finance, and Mr. Maurizio Capotorto, CEO of the national train operator Trainose, signed a new contract for public service obligations.

The agreement will provide 50 million euros per year for the next 10 years to fund loss-making services, with an automatic five-year extension. A key element of the PSO agreement is that Trainose will only receive subsidies if it operates these routes, something not offered in previous contracts. PSO payments will be split into the following components: up to €21 million for services to Trainose, up to €19 million for infrastructure usage to OSE, and up to €10 million for rolling stock leases to Geosse. Staikouras said the PSO agreement, which was recently approved by the Court of Auditors, was the result of more than a year of intensive negotiations between the two ministries and Trainose.

Karamanlis said five very important issues were addressed for the first time. "First, our entire network will have itineraries all over the country, even routes to destinations that are considered non-commercial," he said. “This will be guaranteed since the terms and sanctions were first introduced. “Secondly, most of the annual compensation will be returned to the Greek state to further strengthen rail transport. “Thirdly, Trainose is committed to very specific investments aimed at improving the infrastructure and the services provided.” Fourthly, the parties agreed that the more of these investments are implemented, the longer this new contract will last. “Fifth, in favour of the efficiency of the compensation mechanism, where there are positive economic outcomes.” In other words, we are correcting the erroneous text of the Syriza government and its problematic privatization agreement. Trainose was sold in 2017 for 45 million euros, or 5 million euros less than the annual aid to provide public services. We are improving the privatisation clauses that are really "walking" without serving the interests of passengers. We are passenger-centric. "

Karamanlis said that 453 million euros of the 500 million euro PSO payment will be returned to the Greek government as an investment. Staikouras said Trainose had pledged to "invest heavily in rail passenger transport" in three areas. 163.5 million euros will invest in at least 10 hydrogen zero-emission trains, 10 new trains for suburban services, and a complete renovation and upgrade of 15 Desiro EMUs, which Trainose leases from state-owned leasing company Gaiaose. Quality control systems will be implemented and integrated at trains and stations. Third, information systems will be developed to provide passengers with comprehensive information in a timely manner before and during the journey. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

Capotorto confirms the commitment of FS and Trenitalia to the development of railways in Greece. FS has transferred five ETR470s from Italy to Greece, operating on the Athens-Thessaloniki trunk line. "Soon we will be announcing new initiatives aimed not only at upgrading our services, but also in promoting green transport, which is the goal and commitment of the FS Group," Capotorto said.Editor/XingWentao