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Diakofto Kalavrita Railway

Diakofto.jpg
A Decauville trainset at Diakopto station
Line length 22.346 km (13.885 mi)
Track gauge 750 mm (2 ft 5 12 in)

The Diakofto–Kalavryta Railway is a historic 750 mm (2 ft 5 12 in) gauge rack railway in Greece. Located on the northern Peloponnese, it runs 22 km from Diakopto through the Vouraikos Gorge and the old Mega Spilaion Monastery and up to Kalavryta, stopping en route at Zachlorou.

The line was built by the Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways (SPAP). Currently the infrastructure and rolling stock are owned and maintained by Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE). Passenger trains are operated by TrainOSE.

The railway is single line with 750 mm (2 ft 5 12 in) gauge. It climbs from sea level to 720 m in 22.3 km with a maximum gradient of 17.5%. There are three sections with Abt system rack for a total of 3.8 km. Maximum speed is 40 km/h for adhesion sections and 12 km/h for rack sections.

There are many bridges over the Vouraikos River, numerous tunnels, and passing loops at Niamata, Triklia, Zachlorou and Kerpini. The rolling stock sheds and maintenance facilities are located at Diakofto; there were additional facilities at Kalavrita station during the steam era but they are no longer in use.

The line was to be electrified and EMUs were ordered from Billard in France. Before the cars arrived, the electrification plans were scrapped and the EMUs were thus not usable when they arrived. As a makeshift solution, a power car carrying a diesel generator was placed in between the two cars, a solution which has worked very well for decades.

OSE recently completed renovation work on the northern part of the line (major maintenance of bridges, enlargement of tunnels, replacement of the rack and testing of new rolling stock), during which the line was wholly or partly closed. Currently there is a limited service on weekdays with three trains on each direction and an extended service on weekends and public holidays with two additional trains.


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