GREECE: WHERE TRAINS GO TO DIE

GREECE: WHERE TRAINS GO TO DIE

Fri, 07/03/2020 - 10:45

Thessaloniki's railway cemetery is unexpected legacy from times of economic, environmental optimism

thessaloniki train cemetery 2_0.jpg

We have written extensively, with justification, about the many charms of Thessaloniki. A short drive from Bulgaria, the second largest city in Greece abounds with pleasures for both body and the soul. Excellent restaurants and charming cafés, a marvellous seaside promenade and atmospheric central streets, a lively openair market selling everything from olives to icons. Add the late-Roman ruins, Byzantine churches, Ottoman monuments, museums, bars, cultural events... You name it, Thessaloniki has it.

As in any large and lively city, Thessaloniki also has some places that are unknown not only to tourists, but also to most of its inhabitants. One of these is in a curious neighbourhood located west of the city centre; a grey zone of abandoned former industrial buildings, where clubs and late-night bars have colonised the old factories. There are several clearly labeled brothels and striptease joints among the blue-collar apartment blocks, the automobile tire and lubricant shops, a military base and some luxury hotels.

This is also where hundreds of old train carriages are rusting and turning into dust under the Greek sun. They have been there for decades, slowly disappearing and disintegrating under the undergrowth and the graffiti.

thessaloniki train cemetery

Greece, rather unsurprisingly, claims to have the oldest railway in the world. In Antiquity, a line of tree trunks crossed the narrow strip of land that connects the Peloponnese to mainland Greece at Corinth. Ancient Greeks would roll their ships from one shore to the other on the trunks, thus shortening considerably the long and dangerous voyage between the Ionian and the Aegean Sea.

The first proper railroad in Greece appeared in 1869, connecting Athens with its port at Piraeus. In the following decades, the railroad network expanded. Today, it connects Athens and Thessaloniki, extends to several other towns on the mainland and the Peloponnese, and links the country to its neighbours Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Turkey. Because of its inimitable geography of high mountains, deep gulfs and scores of islands, Greek railways could never compete in terms of speed and efficiency with highways and ferries. When an early 20th century National Geographic journalist took the train from Athens to Kalambaka to visit the famed Meteora monasteries, the journey took more than a day to cover a distance of 355 kms. Today's train covers the same distance in five hours.

thessaloniki train cemetery

Over time, Greece modernised its railways. Tracks were widened and steam locomotives were replaced with diesel and electric ones. However, with this development came debt. Unable to compete with cars and buses or to overcome Greek topography, the railway company needed heavy subsidies to survive. 

By 2010, it had accumulated a $13 billion debt, about 5 percent of the Greek GDP. Staff salaries were high, with an average annual wage of $78,000, while on some routes trains were running practically empty. Revenues were meagre. When the Greek debt crisis hit in 2009, it was estimated that it would be cheaper for the government to transport all rail passengers by taxi. Over the following years, the company was restructured and partially privatised. Some lines were closed.

thessaloniki train cemetery

The trains crumbling into dust on the outskirts of Thessaloniki are not the result of the 2009 crisis. They are the product of better times, when the Greek economy was riding high, pun intended. In the 1980s, it seems, the best option to deal with decommissioned train carriages was to make sure they were out of sight and out of mind. In the grey area west of the centre of Thessaloniki at that time there were neither luxury hotels nor repurposed old industrial buildings. Recycling and using the old carriages for scrap metal was, obviously, seen as pointless.

This is how the train graveyard appeared, an atmospheric reminder of the ebb and flow of technology, economy and urban life. 

thessaloniki train cemetery

Issue 165 Greece

Commenting on www.vagabond.bg

Vagabond Media Ltd requires you to submit a valid email to comment on www.vagabond.bg to secure that you are not a bot or a spammer. Learn more on how the company manages your personal information on our Privacy Policy. By filling the comment form you declare that you will not use www.vagabond.bg for the purpose of violating the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. When commenting on www.vagabond.bg please observe some simple rules. You must avoid sexually explicit language and racist, vulgar, religiously intolerant or obscene comments aiming to insult Vagabond Media Ltd, other companies, countries, nationalities, confessions or authors of postings and/or other comments. Do not post spam. Write in English. Unsolicited commercial messages, obscene postings and personal attacks will be removed without notice. The comments will be moderated and may take some time to appear on www.vagabond.bg.

0 comments

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

Discover More

John Lennon's Wall in Prague
VAGABOND'S INTERNATIONAL WALK OF FAME
You went to LA, okay. You think you've seen it all – and walked over it: the pinkish stars on the pavement of Hollywood Boulevard with names of actors, musicians and celebrities, many of whom long forgotten, but immortalised in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Залезът на Санторини
#VISITGREECE
Ако сте от хората, които лягат и стават с Instagram, Гърци

athos monastery
ОТКРИЙТЕ МИСТИЧНА ГЪРЦИЯ
Гърция е земя не само на приятни плажове,

Santorini sea
ДЕСЕТ ГРЪЦКИ ОСТРОВА
Може да са 1200. Може да са и 6000. Точният брой на островите в Гърция може да варира според това как броите и както смятате за остров.

Sarti Beach, Halkidiki
НАЙ-ДОБРОТО ОТ ХАЛКИДИКИ
Защо почивате на Халкидики? Всеки има своя отговор. Но когато обобщим, откриваме, че можем да подредим най-доброто от Халкидики в пет категории.

Halkidiki-AMMOYLIANI ISLAND-East-Coast copy.jpg
ТОП 10 НЕЩА, КОИТО ДА ПРАВИМ НА ХАЛКИДИКИ ПРЕЗ ЛЯТОТО
Щом сте тръгнали за Халкидики, ясно е, че основната ви цел е да се установите възможно най-близо до морето и да прекарвате основната част от времето на плажа.

tel aviv.jpg
5 MUST-VISIT PLACES IN ISRAEL
It is impossible to cover all the wonders that you will discover once you set foot in Israel, but here are five of the most astonishing ones.

Barbayanni is one of the best known brands of Lesvos ouzo
DISCOVERING OUZO
The pines cast a dappled shade on our table and the cool sea is lapping at our feet, the rumble of pebbles drowned by the ecstatic chirping of the cicadas.

table with a view_i523856186_560.jpg
ТОП 10 ХРАНИ И НАПИТКИ, КОИТО ОПРЕДЕЛЯТ ВКУСА НА ГЪРЦИЯ
За нас е станало всекидневие да използваме гръцки зехтин у дома или да си поръчваме панирани калмари в ресторанта, но истината е, че гръцката кухня е несравнимо по-вкусна, когато сме в Гърция.

ТОП 10 СКРИТИ СЪКРОВИЩА НА ГЪРЦИЯ
Всеки интелигентен човек е способен да изброи поне пет места и забележителности в Гърция със световна слава (особено, ако следва популярните инфлуенсъри в социалните мрежи). Но страната предлага много повече от Акропола, Санторини, Корфу, Делфи и Миконос.
open.jpg
10 ГРЪЦКИ ОСТРОВА, КОИТО ДА ПОСЕТИМ ПРЕЗ 2020
Гърция нямаше да бъде Гърция, ако ги нямаше островите. Разпилени сред сините води на Егейско, Средиземно и Йонийско море, те са мозайка от различни истории, култури, пейзажи и кулинарни традиции, които са се преплитали на тях през вековете.