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Anastasia Balezdrova
    After a month will be two years since the repair works on improving the route on which the electric train in Athens goes, started. The repair of the rout Piraeus - Kifisiya that connects the port city with the northern Athens suburb with a total budget of 109 million euros began in the early 2009, although it was part of the Olympic preparations of Athens. Only the stops and stations were then repaired and renewed.
    Initially passengers took with joy the news that after the repair the trains will run faster, but their enthusiasm evaporated very quickly. The daily train delays, whose timetable is no longer observed, turned the journey with the railway into a real adventure. Throughout the entire past winter, passengers were forced to get off the trains at a specific stop and go to the bus that took them to the next stop of the railroad from which they could continue their journey. This, of course lengthened also the total travel time.
    As Helen says, "I had to leave my home at least half an hour earlier, so I can get to work on time". The situation was further complicated also by the poor weather conditions, especially during rain, and on weekends large areas remained closed and it was impossible to travel with this type of transport. The people responsible for the repairs promised that after repair the entire rail network will be placed on concrete, which will allow trains to reach to a speed of up to 110 km/h and the shaking and noise in the vehicles will be significantly reduced.
    Until the initiation of the repair from Piraeus to Kifisiya it was possible to reach there in 50-55 minutes. After the repair is completed it is expected for this time not to exceed 40 minutes. Currently, however, the distance can be completed for an hour and a half. And while prior to the initiation of the repair 33 trains transported 540,000 passengers daily, now are only traveling 15 trains carrying 580,000 passengers.
    "Dear passengers, due to the repair initiated on 9^th August the route of the electric railway will not run in the area Monastiraki - Attiki. For this section you can use lines 2 and 3 of the subway. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask for your understanding". The announcement can still be heard from the speakers today. Since yesterday, however it became clear that the employees will continue to "ask for understanding" for an indefinite period of time, since in the section between the stations Omonia and Tisio were discovered ancient ruins and objects. In the announcement of the company-operator ISAP is stated that an effort will be made to accelerate the repair process in cooperation with the archaeological service.
    "What is so strange about finding antiques here? The railway passes between the very remains of ancient buildings" wondered Nikolaos, who was not yet aware of the findings. "Maybe it just needs to continue to pass above them as it did before, but it seems that this hell will end soon", said the young man and hurried to get into the train. I wondered whether he was one of the 894 members of the group on Facebook with the clear title "F… ISAP". In the description of the group the founder boldly expresses his willingness to break the entire station whenever the railroad is delayed "as if the stations are 10 km. away from one another". Besides the delays, he notes the emergence of pickpockets operating in the peak hours at the large stops, where many people gather.
    Today in above mentioned area there were several workers who did not look like neither technicians nor archaeologists, but they were rather gathering some materials.