NATO, and especially the USA, have been concerned (especially after the accident in Tempe), since the time of former American ambassador Jeffrey Pyatt, about the modernization of the Alexandroupoli-Ormenio-Bulgaria line.
The main reason is the transfer of huge amounts of weapons, ammunition and military personnel to countries like Romania and possibly Moldova.
We remind you that in December 2021, a train carrying NATO tanks derailed in Alexandroupolis, causing various comments.
The alliance and the US have big plans for Ukraine, which run through the tracks of the Greek railways, which must be modernized immediately.
This need has been communicated to Athens and the Ministry of Transport, after the terrible accident in Tempi, and concerns the entire Athens-Thessaloniki-Xanthi-Alexandroupoli line, which is even planned to connect to the port of Piraeus in the future.
"The need to re-operate the -independent of the rest of the national network- railway in N. Evros and start commercial routes to/from Eastern and Northern Europe, with the situation at the port of Alexandroupolis and the road network becoming suffocating!" says the Mr. Hatzimichael head of the Alexandropoulis port organization, who is receiving many requests from all sides.
This was stated by the head of the port of Alexandroupoli, Mr. Hatzimikhail.
He states that "in any case, within six days at the new terminal we simultaneously unloaded with Ro-Ro & Lo-Lo procedures thousands of pieces of military cargo from 2 American ships, bulky equipment for power plants as well as loadings on behalf of the Greek Army !”.
The needs of the port of Alexandroupolis are huge, both because of NATO and because of LNG and other projects.
It is therefore imperative to modernize the network in this area, together with the Athens-Thessaloniki route, for national and social reasons, as soon as possible.
The whole game for Greece in Western Thrace is played on infrastructure (railways, ports, roads)
The projects under tender, such as the construction of the New Railway Line Thessaloniki-Toxotes Xanthi (Eastern railway Egnatia) and the connections with ports/airports/BIPE, have a clear development sign but at the same time serve the national defense planning, sources say.
The railway as a means of moving military forces is something that has been used since long ago. In the Greek area, such a movement had taken place in 1940.
Today, it is even more imperative than ever, to have a reliable railway connection of ports, military infrastructure, etc., from Southern and Central Greece, with Western Thrace to Evros.
The Turks want to cause problems in our region, as they threaten our Thrace, while sooner or later, we will have even more intense Turkish action in this sensitive region.
The Greek armed forces will need not only the rapid transfer of forces and material, in case of a Greek-Turkish crisis, but also the requirement of alternative routes, in combination with the road network.
