Gallikos railway station

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Γαλλικός Gallikos
General information
Location	Gallikos 611 00, Kilkis Greece
Coordinates	40°51′33″N 22°53′04″E / 40.8591°N 22.8845°E / 40.8591; 22.8845
Owned by	GAIAOSE[1]
Line(s)	Thessaloniki–Alexandroupoli railway[2]
Platforms	1
Tracks	4
Train operators	Hellenic Train
Connections
Construction
Structure type	at-grade
Depth	1
Platform levels	1
Accessible
Other information
Website	http://www.ose.gr/en/
History
Opened	1900
Electrified	No[2]
Services
Preceding station Hellenic Train Following station Thessaloniki Terminus InterCity Thessaloniki–Alexandroupoli Fast train Kilkis towards Alexandroupoli Nea Filadelfeia towards Thessaloniki InterCity Thessaloniki–Alexandroupoli Pedino towards Alexandroupoli InterCity Thessaloniki–Serres Pedino towards Serres
Location
Gallikos Location within Greece

Gallikos railway station (Greek: Σιδηροδρομικός Σταθμός Γαλλικός, romanized: Sidirodromikós stathmós Gallikos) is a railway station that servers the community of Gallikos, in Kilkis in East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. The station is located just east of the settlement but still within the settlement limits. The station (as of 2021) is unstaffed, with the station buildings abandoned and left to decay.

History

The station opened in 1900. Gallikos 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,^[3] 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 the 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.

In 2001 the infrastructure element of OSE was created, known as GAIAOSE; it would henceforth be responsible for the maintenance of stations, bridges and other elements of the network, as well as the leasing and the sale of railway assists.^[4] In 2003, OSE launched "Proastiakos SA", as a subsidiary to serve the operation of the suburban network in the urban complex of Athens during the 2004 Olympic Games. In 2005, TrainOSE was created as a brand within OSE to concentrate on rail services and passenger interface.

On 9 September 2007, the station reopened. In 2008, all Proastiakos services were transferred from OSE to TrainOSE. In 2009, with the Greek debt crisis unfolding OSE's Management was forced to reduce services across the network. Timetables were cut back, and routes closed 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 2017 OSE's passenger transport sector was privatised as TrainOSE, currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane^[5] infrastructure, including stations, remained under the control of OSE. Since 2020, the station is served by the Proastiakos Thessaloniki services to New Railway Station.

Facilities

The station is still housed in the original 19th-century brick-built station building; however, the buildings are rundown and almost abandoned.^[6] As of (2020) the station is unstaffed, with no staffed booking office or waiting rooms. There is no footbridge over the lines, though passengers can walk across the rails, it is however not wheelchair accessible. The station is only equipped with only bus ‘like’ shelter on a single short platform, with no digital display screens or timetable poster boards. The station has no toilet facilities; as a result, the station is currently little more than an unstaffed halt. However, infrequent buses do call at the station.

Services

It is served by two long-distance trains between Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis, as well as a Proastiakos service to Serres.

References