Metro dig begins in southern Athens
Work on extending the Athens metro to the southeastern suburbs began yesterday as Public Works Minister Giorgos Souflias sought to bestow good luck on the project by naming the tunnel boring machine after his favorite soccer player. The 94-meter-wide and 1,100-ton machine began test excavations in the seafront area of Hellenikon with the aim of digging a 5.5-kilometer tunnel to Aghios Dimitrios, currently the last stop on Line 2. The project is due to be completed by the end of 2009, when four new stations – Hellenikon, Argyroupolis, Alimos and Ilioupolis – will open. Souflias visited the site in Hellenikon yesterday to view the first day of work on the project. He suggested the tunnel borer, or metropontikas (metro mouse) as it is known in Greek, should be named after 16-year-old soccer player Sotiris Ninis who has impressed with his performances since making his debut for Panathinaikos in January. «I am naming the tunnel borer Ninis as I expect that with skill, speed and effectiveness it will score a goal in Aghios Dimitrios,» said Souflias, a keen supporter of Panathinaikos. The tunnel borer will work 24 hours a day, seven days a week at a depth of 21 meters. Some 120 workers will oversee the operation as it digs through 10 meters of earth each day. The project’s progress is subject to any major archaeological finds. Digs are under way at the sites where Argyroupolis and Alimos stations will be located to prevent any delays once the excavating machine has reached there.
