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Transportation
Volos-Pilio
History
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«Eat, mister little train, your coal, so that you may grow old and tall and proudly go to Agria" {Αγριά: A large village by the seaside, 4.4 miles southeast of Volos} but it did not listen the damn thing, it remained little...
These are the words of Nikos Tsiforos {Νίκος Τσιφόρος}, in a satirical article he wrote about Volos {Βόλος}, one of the cities of Greece where the railway was very popular indeed.
The little train which did not "eat its food", is what linked Volos with the village Milies {Μηλιές}, up on the mountain of the Centaurs, the much-beloved Pilion {Πήλιον}.
The reason for the "atrophy" of the train was not of course some sort of... whim, but the very small distance between the rails (23.6 inches) a decision made by its constructors, so that they may reduce the cost of the difficult engineering works. An illustrative example is that one of the bridges which were built so that the train may pass from the Pilion gorges (Taksiarhis {Ταξιάρχης} bridge, shortly before Milies), is straight whilst the railway line curves!
The construction of the line began in 1894 and it was completed in one year, by the Thessalic Railways {Σιδηρόδρομοι Θεσσαλίας}, without a government grant, so that it may link Volos with Ano Lehonia {Άνω Λεχώνια} (7.5 miles) and create income from the transportation of the local products. Not before long an extension towards the mountain was decided, thus adding the 10 miles long line from Ano Lehonia to Milies.
The line operated on 1904, once the necessary engineering works had been completed so as to avoid flooding. In the mountain part 7 stone bridges, one metal bridge, 2 tunnels, 5 stone overpasses, 78 drain pipes and many buttress walls where constructed, under the supervision of the Italian engineer Evaristo De Chirico.
The 17.5 miles long route took initially 2 hours and 15 minutes, and later was reduced to less than 2 hours.
The operation of the line was discontinued on July 20th, 1971, as a cutback on spending and while the private automobile was constantly gaining popularity. It did not cross from anybody's mind at the time that the line could be used as a tourist attraction. After numerous discussions the line resumed operations on 1996 with the original train which proved quite successful with the tourists.
Meanwhile, the rails had been covered in many points in the Volos to Ano Lehonia route, from road construction works and unauthorized constructions. Thus, today the train starts from the Ano Lehonia station, which was renovated, without altering its distinct style.
Source: Eleftherotipia
{Ελευθεροτυπία} Newspaper. Featured Article: The History Of
The Railway, Saturday, July 3rd, 1999.
11-30-2003