Hellenic State Railways

Hellenic State Railways or SEK (Greek: Σιδηρόδρομοι Ελληνικού Κράτους, Sidirodromi Ellinikou Kratous; Σ.Ε.Κ.) was a Greek public sector entity (legal person of public law, Greek: Ν.Π.Δ.Δ.) which was established in 1920 and operated most Greek railway lines until 1970.

History

The Hellenic State Railways took over the standard gauge railway line from Piraeus to Papapouli at the pre-1912 borders, the extension from Papapouli to Platy and most of the former Ottoman railway lines that were within the Greek borders after 1919. These lines were:

  • Piraeus, Demerli & Frontiers Railway (Greek: Σιδηρόδρομος Πειραιώς-Δεμερλή-Συνόρων), also known as Larisaikos
  • Part of the former Thessaloniki & Monastir Railway (French: Chemin de fer de Salonique à Monastir or SM)
  • Part of Chemins de fer Orientaux or CO, between Thessaloniki and Idomeni. The line from Alexandroupolis to Ormenio was transferred to the French-Hellenic Railway Company (Chemin de fer Franco-Hellenique, CFFH) of Evros (Greek: Γαλλοελληνική Εταιρεία Σιδηροδρόμων or ΓΕΣ) which was absorbed by SEK much later, in 1954
  • The Thessaloniki-Constantinople Link Railway (French: Jonction Salonique-Constantinople or JSC) operating the Thessaloniki–Alexandroupolis railway.
Simplex petrol locomotive on the military 600 mm (1 ft 11 58 in) gauge line Sarakli-Stavros during World War 1
  • The 66 km long Sarakli-Stavros line, a former military line (600 mm (1 ft 11 58 in) gauge) constructed during World War I.
  • The 50 km long Skydra local railway, a former military line (600 mm gauge) constructed during World War I and initially operated until 1936 by a company called Local Railways of Macedonia (Greek: Τοπικοί Σιδηρόδρομοι Μακεδονίας).

After World War II the Hellenic State Railways absorbed most other Greek railways, including:

Only Ellinikoi Ilektrikoi Sidirodromoi (E.I.S., later Athens-Piraeus Electric Railways), operator of Piraeus-Kifissia railway and Piraeus-Perama light railway, and the private mining and industrial lines remained independent.

The Hellenic State Railways existed until December 31, 1970. On the next day all railways in Greece with the exception of private industrial lines and E.I.S. were transferred to Hellenic Railways Organisation S.A., a state-owned corporation.

Network and other infrastructure

Brallos (or Papadia) bridge, rebuilt in 1945.

During this period very little expansion of the existing network took place, the most notable being:

  • The Amyntaio-Kozani branch (1955).
  • The 15 km long line from Strymonas to Kulata (1966), connecting the Greek and Bulgarian railway networks.
  • Another 25 km long branch line from Nea Zichni (Mirini) to Amphipolis (1931), which was later abandoned and the track was lifted in 1970.
  • Conversion of the line between Athens and Inoi to double track.

A contract was signed in 1928 for a new line connecting Kalampaka to Kozani, but the project was abandoned in 1932 due to lack of funds.

The Greek railway system (both infrastructure and rolling stock) suffered serious damages during World War II (especially in 1943-1944) and did not become fully operational until 1950. However the viaduct of Achladokampos in Peloponnese, destroyed in 1944, was rebuilt only in 1974.

In 1960 the line from Larissa to Volos, of the former Thessaly Railways, was converted to standard gauge and was connected in Larissa with the line from Athens to Thessaloniki.

New station buildings were constructed in Thessaloniki (known as Thessaloniki New Passenger Station or ΝΕΣΘ) (1952), Larissa (1962), Lianokladi (1950), Sindos, Aiginio, Platamon, Florina, Edessa, Agras, Arnissa, Polykastron, Ptolemais and Kozani.

Rolling stock

Until 1962 the Hellenic State Railways used a variety of steam locomotives from various sources. Some of them belonged to the pre-1920 networks, a number were acquired as part of foreign aid programs after the war and a small number was procured.

Conversion to diesel traction began in the early 1960s. The first diesel locomotives were delivered in 1962 and included 30 Krupp Y60 shunters (Class A-101), 10 ALCo DL532B (Class A-201) and 10 ALCo DL500C (Class A-301). They were followed by classes A-221, A-321, A-351, A-401 and A-411 for the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge network and classes A-9101, A-9201 and A-9401 for the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 38 in) metre gauge networks.

Diesel multiple units were first introduced in 1936 and became more common in the 1950s and 1960s. Steam locomotives were slowly phased out but were still in limited use in December 1970.

Steam locomotives

The following table shows steam locomotives acquired by the Hellenic State Railways between 1920 and 1969. They also continued to use an assortment of older types of locomotives inherited from the previous Greek and Ottoman railway companies.[1][2][3]

Photo Class Numbers Type Quantity Manufacturer Serial Nos. Year Power Notes
Αα 1–4 0-4-0T 4 Ex CO 403–408
Βα 11–? 2-4-0T Ex CO 321–328 series
Γα 21–22 4-4-0T 2 Neilson & Co. 1892 Ex SEK 301–302, originally SAP
Γβ 31–34 4-4-0 4 Ex CO
Δα
(1st)
51 0-6-0ST 1 Manning Wardle 1892 Ex SAP
Δα
(2nd)
51–70 0-6-0T 20 Davenport Locomotive Works,
Vulcan Iron Works,
H.K. Porter
1945–1946 730 hp (544 kW) USATC S100; several rebuilt as 0-6-0
Δβ 61-? 0-6-0 Ex Railway Operating Division
Δγ 71-75 0-6-0 5 Ex JSC 50–54
Δγ 76 4-4-0 1 StEG 1888 Ex CFFH 102, previously CO
Δδ 81–87 0-6-0 7 Ex CO 4–10
Δε 88–103 0-6-0 Ex CO 11–54 series
Δζ 111–114 0-6-0 4 Ex CO 502–506
Εα 201–223 2-6-0T 23 Batignolles (13)
St. Léonard (10)
1903–1907 Ex SEK 101–123
Εβ 231–232 2-6-0 2 Ex CO 509–510
Εγ 241–243 2-6-0 3 Ex CO 521–523
Ζα 301–307 4-6-0 7 Batignolles 1906 Ex SEK 201–207; four-cylinder de Glenn compounds, based on Midi 1400 class
Ζβ 311 4-6-0 1 Ex SEK 221
Ζγ 321–330 4-6-0 10 Ex JSC 101–110
Ζδ 341–350 4-6-0 10 Ex Prussian P 8
Ζε 331–333 2-6-2 3 Ex CFFH
Ηα 401 0-8-0 1 Ex JSC, originally Prussian G 7
Ηβ 411–423 0-8-0 13 Ex JSC 1–16
Ηγ 431–432 0-8-0 2 Ex SBB 4105, 4112
Ηδ 441–443 0-8-0 3 Ex SBB 4130, 4134, 4135
Ηε 444–446 2-8-0 3 Batignolles 1924 903 hp (673 kW) Ex CFFH, previously CO 260–262
Θα 501 2-8-0 1 ex SEK 601
Θβ 511–512 2-8-0 2 Ex SEK 621–622
Θγ 521–537
551–560
571–595
2-8-0 27+25 Baldwin Locomotive Works, American Locomotive Works, Lima Locomotive Works 1947 1,200 hp (895 kW) USATC S160 521–537 coal-fired, 551–560 oil-fired, 571–595 from Italy in 1959 (FS Class 736)
Ια 701–720 2-8-2 20 American Locomotive Company 1915 ex SEK 401–420
Κα 801–802 0-10-0 2 ex SEK 521–522
Κβ 811–860 0-10-0 60 StEG 1922–1926 895 kW (1,200 hp) kkStB / BBÖ class 80.900 (ÖBB class 57)
Κβ 809 0-10-0 1 895 kW (1,200 hp) kkStB / BBÖ class 80.900 (ÖBB class 57); Ex CFFH
Κγ 861–880 0-10-0 20 Ateliers de Tubize,
Haine St Pierre,
St. Léonard
La Meuse
1929 895 kW (1,200 hp)
Κδ 881–891 0-10-0 11 Henschel Ex Deutsche Reichsbahn 57.10-35 (Prussian G 10), used by the German occupation forces and left behind when they retreated in 1944
Λα 901–940 2-10-0 40 StEG (10),
Škoda Works (30)
1925–1927 1,156 kW (1,550 hp) Südbahn class 580
Λβ 951–966 2-10-0 16 North British Locomotive Company 1946 1,141 kW (1,530 hp) WD Austerity 2-10-0
Λγ 991–998 2-10-0 8 Baldwin Locomotive Works 1947 1,270 kW (1,703 hp)
Μα 1001–1020 2-10-2 20 Ansaldo (10)
Breda (10)
1953–1954 2,180 kW (2,920 hp)

Diesel locomotives (standard gauge)

Photo Class Numbers Type Quantity Manufacturer Year Model Power Notes
A-101 0-6-0 dh 30 Krupp 1962–1967 Y60 478 kW (641 hp)
A-201 Bo-Bo de 10 ALCo 1962 DL532B 772 kW (1,035 hp)
A-301 Co-Co de 10 ALCo 1962 DL500C 1,470 kW (1,971 hp)
A-321 Co-Co de 7 ALCo 1967 DL543 1,470 kW (1,971 hp)
A-351 Co-Co de 26 Alsthom 1967 CC AD 2100C1 1,544 kW (2,071 hp)
A-401 Co-Co de 10 Siemens-Jung 1966 1,470 kW (1,971 hp)
A-411 B-B dh 20 Krauss-Maffei 1963 V200 1,618 kW (2,170 hp)

Diesel locomotives (metre gauge)

Photo Class Numbers Type Quantity Manufacturer Year Model Power Notes
A-9101 Co-Co de 12 ALCo 1965 DL537 993 kW (1,332 hp)
A-9201 Co-Co de 10 Alsthom 1967 CC AD 1600A1 1,175 kW (1,576 hp)
A-9401 B-B dh 20 Mitsubishi 1967 48-BB-HI 478 kW (641 hp)

Diesel multiple units

The Hellenic State Railways bought their first DMUs in 1936 and acquired larger numbers in the 1950s. Additional metre gauge multiple units were inherited from networks absorbed in SEK.

Photo Class Numbers Type Quantity Manufacturer Year Model Power Notes
(AA11) 2-Bo de 2 Floridsdorf 1936
AA11-AA26
A111-A118
A1-1A+2-2 16 Fiat 1950
AA27-AA36
A119-A128
A1-1A+2-2 10 Fiat 1958
AA41 2-B 9 Renault 1950
AA61 B-B 3 MAN 1955
AA71 2-B 20 Ferrostaal-Esslingen 1962

See also

References and notes

  1. J.D.H. Smith (2005–2007). "HSR steam locomotives". Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  2. Zartaloudis et al. 1997, pp. 172–173.
  3. Durrant 1972, pp. 51–54.
  • Durrant, A. E. (1972) [1966]. The Steam Locomotives of Eastern Europe. Newton Abbot, Devon, UK: David and Charles. pp. 50–60. ISBN 0-7153-4077-8.
  • Smith, J. D. H. (2005–2007). "HSR steam locomotives". Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  • Zartaloudis, I.; Karatolos, D.; Koutelidis, D.; Nathenas, G.; Fasoulas, S.; Filippoupolitis, A. (1997). Οι Ελληνικοί Σιδηρόδρομοι (Hellenic Railways) (in Greek). Μίλητος (Militos). ISBN 960-8460-07-7. It is the only extensive and authoritative source for the history of Greek railways.

Further reading

  • W. F., Simms (1997). The railways of Greece. Wilfried F. Sims. ISBN 0-9528881-1-4. Contains brief history, simple line maps and extensive list of rolling stock until 1997.
  • Organ, J. (2006). Greece Narrow Gauge. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-904474-72-1.
  • Voyageur (Anonymous) (February 1941). "The Railways of Greece". The Railway Magazine. London, UK: Railway Publications. 87 (524): 64.
  • D. W., Winkworth (May 1967). "Peloponnese Narrow Gauge". The Railway Magazine. London, UK: Transport & Technical Publications Ltd. 113 (793): 249–254.
  • "Railway systems in Greece". Cheltenham, UK: The Restoration & Archiving Trust. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
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