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.

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:

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.

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

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.

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