Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Lavrion

  • Athens – Protests, Riots and Repairs

    Athens – Protests, Riots and Repairs

    20250228_220301

    As it was likely much would be closed in Athens given the commemoration of the second anniversary of the Tempi train disaster, we headed down the coast to Lavrion.

    20250228_125219

    There was a protest going on there, but it was all amicable and friendly with families taking part.

    20250228_125347

    I think this is talking about putting profit over people. Incidentally, I hope that isn’t a baby snake at the base of the photo.

    20250228_125434

    As an aside, there was a lot of littering of these leaflets.

    20250228_130014

    It meant that everything was closed for three hours in the town. A helpful local stopped their car to check if we needed any help given that everything was closed. It did mean that the restaurants, shops and the like were all closed, so we watched some of the protests and then walked down to the marina. It was impressive how well attended the protests were and how nothing remained open during this time.

    20250228_130818

    57 people died on 28 February 2023 when two trains crashed into each other head-on, with another 81 heavily injured and 99 lightly injured. The infra-structure of the rail network is highly problematic in Greece and it’s argued by many that little is being done to improve it. That was the base for the protests and demonstrations.

    20250301_093901

    Back in Athens later on, we saw this graffiti written on the National University.

    20250301_152313

    It was repainted within hours and I was quite impressed with their efficiency. It’s visible through the first coat of paint, but I’m sure that the second coat went down so after and all remnants of the graffiti are gone.

    20250301_095146

    The damage from firebombs thrown towards the Parliament building was being cleared up. There’s more coverage of the rioting at the Guardian web-site.

    20250301_094456

    There were numerous burnt out bins near the Parliament building.

    20250301_152116

    But they were swiftly removed within a few hours and I’m sure the new replacements are already in situ.

    There’s more about the rail accident at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempi_train_crash, the more I read about it the more horrendous the situation evidently is, so the reason for the demonstrations has become ever clearer to me.

  • Lavrion – Former Rail Line to Greece (and perhaps coming back)

    Lavrion – Former Rail Line to Greece (and perhaps coming back)

    20250228_124920

    The first train in Lavrion, in southern Greece, which is dated on the image as 1880. The main line to Lavrion officially opened on June 20, 1885, although the Keratea–Lavrion section had already been in limited use before that date. It was one of the earlier lines to open in the country and was constructed primarily to link the mines in the area with the port of Lavrion, with the line being constructed by the French company Compagnie Française des Mines du Laurium.

    20250228_125140

    20250228_125122

    An old rail carriage in near pristine condition…. I like that this carriage is here, but it feels like it’s an sub-optimal condition with that graffiti on it.

    20250228_135842

    Evidence of the old track, although not much is left. The line was damaged during the Second World War and it took them until 1952 to get it fully re-opened.

    20250228_135952

    20250228_135909

    The line finally closed to passengers in 1957, apparently with the bus lobby being important in that, although it’s a shame that the line has been lost as it would have perhaps offered quite an economic boost for Lavrion. Some of the section nearer to Athens was turned into Athens Metro Line 1, but most of the route has been entirely lost and it’s quite hard to even track it on the map.

    20250228_140006

    The route of the former line and I like rail heritage, so this was all quite intriguing. On the bright side, it looks like work is underway with an expected end date of 2033, to rebuild the line and reconnect Lavrion to the rail network. This would be a connection to the country’s main airport and would be enormously useful for the town’s cruise port. There’s details of that expansion in this pdf file.