The completion of the fourth metro line in the Greek capital Athens is officially postponed to 2032 instead of the originally planned 2029, with the possibility that the deadline will be further extended to 2034, local media reported, quoted by BTA.
According to the new schedule approved by the state-owned company “Ellinico Metro“, responsible for the design, construction and supervision of the metro, the deadline for completing the project is postponed by three years. At the same time, the contractor of the site – international construction consortium, insists on a longer extension, arguing its request with accumulated delays and technical difficulties.
The main problems are related to the late handover of construction sites, including at the stations “Evangelismos“ and “Goudi“, as well as other factors that have not yet been fully assessed. The contractor defines some of the delays as force majeure circumstances and insists on not returning the bonus received for timely completion in the amount of 57.7 million euros, informs the electronic edition of the newspaper “Kathimerini“.
For its part, the state-owned company “Ellinico Metro“ acknowledges the existence of significant delays, but indicates that some of them are also due to actions or inaction on the part of the contractor. The company even accuses the consortium of deliberately extending deadlines in some cases by making changes to the construction process.
„Kathimerini“ reported that the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of Greece Christos Dimas has decided not to demand the return of the bonus at this stage, but has rejected the contractor's objections to the new schedule.
The dispute between the parties is expected to be referred to arbitration.