Greece (OSE)

• Suburban (Προαστιακός) - commuter service around major cities & agglomerations (lines Chalkida - Athens - Piraues, Kiato - Athens - Airport; Thessaloniki - Larissa, Thessaloniki - Edessa - Florina; Agios Andreas - Patra - Rio - Agios Vasileios), no seat reservation required 
• Regular (Κοινή αμαξοστοιχία, marked as ΑΠ, ΗΛ, DES) - standard passengers trains on a secondary domestic lines, usually have a 4 digit number, no seat reservation required
  
• Express (Ταχεία & Ταχεία προτεραιότητας, marked as TAX) – express & priority express trains, usually have a 3 digit number, seat reservation not compulsory, but possible
• Sleeper (Κλινοθεσιο) – overnight sleeper train with compulsory berth/bed reservation, runs between Thessaloniki and Athens (service currently suspended, although overnight service between Athens & Thessaloniki without a sleeper carriages does exist, see the timetable above)
• InterCity (marked as IC on OSE website) – fast intercity service between major Greek cities (e.g. Thessaloniki and Athens), seat reservation & higher tariff/supplement for pass holders applies
• International trains – until early 2011 Greece had six international pairs of trains running:

- from Athens to Sofia, called ΔΙΕΘΝΗ-ΒΟΥΛΓΑΡΙΑ

- from Thessaloniki to Sofia, called ΔΙΕΘΝΗ-ΒΟΥΛΓΑΡΙ (on route from Thessaloniki to Sofia and Plovdiv OSE used to run special buses)

- from Athens to Bucharest, called ΔΙΕΘΝΗ-ΡΟΥΜΑΝΙΑ

- from Thessaloniki to Istanbul, called ΔΙΕΘΝΗ-ΤΟΥΡΚΙΑ

- from Thessaloniki to Belgrade via Skopje (daytime and overnight), called ΔΙΕΘΝΗ- ΣEPBIA

Since February 2011 Greek Railways (OSE) ceased operation of all international trains with the official formulation 'until further notice' and only in May 2014 finally a few international trains, i.e. from Thessaloniki to Sofia #360 (6:55-14:18) & from Sofia to Thessaloniki #361 (15:00-22:22) as well as running in the period from 1.6.2018 to 30.9.2018 Thessaloniki-Skopje-Belgrade #334 'Hellas' (18:23-21:54-7:46) & Belgrade-Skopje-Thessaloniki #335 (18:35-4:20-10:10), were back in the schedule and running.

In 2018 one-way ticket from Thessaloniki to Sofia cost 16,80 euro (≈ 33 BGN), while for return trips offered a special promo fare - 25 euro (however, such tickets need to be purchased at least 15 days in advance + there is a limited quota of promo tickets per each departure, otherwise passengers expected to buy regular tariff return ticket which costs 33,60 euro)

One-way ticket from Thessaloniki to Belgrade costs 33,80 euro (≈ 4000 RSD), return ticket is 54,10 euro (≈ 6400 RSD), while additionally passengers can also purchase sleeper reservation for 8 euro. One-way ticket from Thessaloniki to Skopje costs 12,20 euro (≈ 750 MKD), return ticket is 19,50 euro (≈ 1200 MKD)

Greece has two major "railway regions" – Peloponnesian Railway and the continental rail network. First one is mainly narrow gauge (1000mm), while second - standard European gauge (1435mm)

Although traveling by train in Greece is not extremely expensive, but still there is a number of ways how you can save money and take advantage of the various discounts offered by TrainOSE:

Discounts offered by Greek Railways (OSE):

1.  10% off in case passenger purchase ticket via Greek Railways (OSE) app (mobile application discount)
2.  15% off in case passenger purchase ticket >2 days in advance
3.  20% off in case passenger purchase return ticket

(all the above discounts can sum up, but total discount may not exceed 40%)

Since 2011 OSE as well offers discounted promo tickets (Economy Fare) available via TrainOSE mobile app (previously also via website). Promo tickets price levels start from only 9 euro, then, once quota of cheapest tickets gets sold out, kicks in 19 euro price level, next 29 euro level and finally 39 euro (each price level has limited amount of tickets per departure)

Families (2 & more passengers) traveling together can as well benefit from OSE Family Card (costs 13 euro), which allows additional discount of 25% (or 50% for families of 3 to 8 people) for groups traveling together Offer got canceled, so passengers with children can count only on travel free of charge for children up to the age of 4 and 50% discount for children up to the age of 12

Another major deal for national as well as international rail travels in the region is Balkan Flexi Pass, the offer is for journeys in the area of South East European railways. This pass allows unlimited train travel during 3, 5, 7, 10 or 15 days (over two months validity period) in Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro  

Balkan Flexi Pass prices:

International Train Service:

a) Regular discounts

Special tariff (called SET) applies for connections between members of South-East Europe Railways Group (SERG): railway companies of Albania, Bulgaria,

:

b) Special offers (SparSchiene)

Not available

c) CityStars

OSE offers CityStars for connections to Bulgaria (e.g. Thessaloniki-Sofia-Thessaloniki), however rules of such CityStars are a bit unusual and nonstandard. For instance, OSE-BDZ CityStar is valid only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but at the same a positive detail is that students/ISIC (International Student Identity Card) holders get additional discount. Anyhow, some of the OSE CityStar prices for Thessaloniki-Sofia route are: 2 passengers pay only 38,40 euros in total, 2 students pay 19,10 euros in total, 4 passengers pay 64 euros in total, etc.

How to Buy Train Tickets in Greece:

Passengers can purchase tickets for journeys within Greece online via Greek Railways (OSE) website www.ticket.trainose.gr

Do you still have further questions or want to share your own travel experience? You are welcome on our Forum page

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