railroad.wikisort.org - Station

Xanthi railway station (Greek: Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Ξάνθης, romanized: Sidirodromikós stathmós Xànthi) is a railway station that servers the city of Xanthi, in Xanthi in East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. The station is located 3 km southeast[4] of the city center, but still within the city limits. The station (as of 2019) is staffed, but only at peak times, but has waiting rooms and a taxi rank.

Ξάνθης Xànthi
General information
Location	67100 Xanthi[1] Xanthi Greece
Coordinates	41°07′26″N 24°53′33″E
Owned by	GAIAOSE[2]
Line(s)	Regional Thessaloniki–Alexandroupoli railway[3]
Platforms	2
Tracks	7 (1 mothballed)
Train operators	Hellenic Train
Construction
Structure type	at-grade
Platform levels	1
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	No
Disabled access
Other information
Status	Staffed (Peaktime only)
Website	http://www.ose.gr/en/
History
Opened	1900
Electrified	No
Services
Preceding station Hellenic Train Following station Toxotes towards Thessaloniki Hellenic Train Komotini towards Ormenio InterCity Polysitos towards Alexandroupoli
Former service
Preceding station Turkish State Railways Following station Drama towards Thessaloniki Friendship Express Komotini towards Istanbul
Location
Xanthi Location within Greece

History

The station opened in 1900. Xanthi was annexed by Greece on 18 October 1912 during the First Balkan War. On 17 October 1925, The Greek government purchased the Greek sections of the former Salonica Monastir railway[5] and the railway became part of the Hellenic State Railways, with the remaining section north of Florina seeded to Yugoslavia. In 1970 OSE became the legal successor to the SEK, taking over responsibilities for most of Greece's rail infrastructure. On 1 January 1971, the station and most of Greek rail infrastructure were transferred to the Hellenic Railways Organisation S.A., a state-owned corporation. Freight traffic declined sharply when the state-imposed monopoly of OSE for the transport of agricultural products and fertilisers ended in the early 1990s. Many small stations of the network with little passenger traffic were closed down. On 9 September 2007, the station reopened. Since 2007, the station is served by the Proastiakos Thessaloniki services to New Railway Station. In 2009, with the Greek debt crisis unfolding OSE's Management was forced to reduce services across the network. Timetables were cut back, routes closed and stations left abandoned as the government-run entity attempted to reduce overheads. Services from Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis were cut back from six to just two trains a day, reducing the reliability of services and passenger numbers. In 2016 upgrade[6] work on the line resulted in no stopping services between Drama and Xanthi.[7] There is old abandoned boxcar shunted onto one of the sidetracks, very close to the station buildings. In 2017 OSE's passenger transport sector was privatised as TrainOSE, currently, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane[8] infrastructure, including stations, remained under the control of OSE. In July 2022, the station began being served by Hellenic Train, the rebranded TranOSE[9]

Facilities

The station has waiting rooms within the original brick-built station building. There is a cafe-ouzerie next door.[4] The station is staffed, but only at peak times.

Services

It is served by two long-distance trains between Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis. On 25 September 2016, as part of the planned upgrade ‘reorganization’ of the rail network, the Drama-Xanthi rail link was be suspended. The planned interruption was scheduled to take 6 to 9 months.[7]

Between July 2005 and February 2011, the Friendship Express, (an international InterCity train jointly operated by the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and TrainOSE linking Istanbul's Sirkeci Terminal, Turkey and Thessaloniki, Greece) made scheduled stops at Xanthi.

References

External links

• Xanthi Station - National Railway Network Greek Travel Pages

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