Railwayjack
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 11 years ago
Has anyone changed trains at the SKA junction north of Athens? I am planning to use a railcc connection from Piraeus to Kiato which involves getting off at SKA on the north-south Piraeus-Haldiki line and joining the Airport-Kiato east-west line at SKA Archanes. Although it is the same junction there appears to be two SKA stations separated by railway lines. So my question is how does a pedestrian (with a bag) transfer from the north-south to east-west Proaskiakos suburban railway at the SKA junction? I am making this journey in Oct 13.Thankyou.
Y00landa
Traveller
1 comments
Hello Railwayjack, your question is just! The two platforms are connected with a passage . You will go from Pireaus to SKA right? When you get off the train, you will have to get on the opposite platform the one taking you from SKA to Pireaus, go left (having your back looking at the train you just came out off) there are stairs (under the earth) taking you there. It will be quite clear once you are there . Then you will have to cross the whole platform and at the end of it you will find a little staircase on your right hand. It leads to the passage. You follow that and end up in stairs and elevator that take you to the platform for line Airport-Kiato. I'm pretty sure there is only one platform for both directions Kiato-Airport and Airport-Kiato so you will have to check the electronic board and see which direction has each train that arrives (or the sign on train). The stations and passage are open-air and at the time you are travelling there will be a lot of people using these trains. You will see them crossing the platform and getting to the passage (or walking outside the platform in parallel with it, it is the same thing, they both lead to passage). If you get confused ask anyone you find the name Kiato they will show you! I suppose you will have the schedules of each train checked but I think you have 13 to 20 minutes to go from one to the other wich is more than enough. All in all there is a passage connecting the two lines and it is a bit confusing at first so that's why I wrote all this. I used these two a lot to go from centre of Athens to Patra via Kiato. Have a nice trip to Greece!
Railwayjack
Traveller
1 comments
Thankyou YOOlanda. This is really really helpful. Do you know anything about buying tickets for Proastiakos?. The OSE ticketing website in in Greek. As we arrive in Piraeus at 1500pm on a Blue Star boat we only have 30mins to buy tickets and find the train so prefer to buy them in advance. Do they sell a through ticket Piraeus-Kiato or do I need two tickets?. Also can you travel first class? - Is it expensive? I also read the trains can be very crowded?.
I also thought about finding some-one who lives in Athens to meet us off the ferry in Piraeus and make sure we catch the right train to Kiato!. We would obviously be happy to pay for some local knowledge and help with the greek language but know from past experience that Greeks are very proud and offering payment could be seen as an insult!.
Can you help with any advice. Finally we are booked into Hotel Pappas in central Kiato - is this far from the Proastiakos rail station?. Our journey is on 3 Oct. Many thanks. Railway Jack