Greece Rail Strike To Halt Trains November 18

Travelers planning to use trains in Greece on Tuesday, November 18, now need to treat the rail network as effectively unavailable for a full day. Hellenic Train workers and locomotive staff have announced a 24 hour nationwide strike from 00 01 to 24 00, with the walkout approved by both the Hellenic Train Workers Union and the Panhellenic Union of Locomotive Personnel.

Unions are targeting long standing safety, staffing, and investment problems across the network, and the strike is expected to halt most InterCity and regional services and severely disrupt suburban rail, including the Proastiakos lines that link Athens with its airport. For travelers, that means treating November 18 as a day when trains between Athens, Thessaloniki, and key regional hubs may simply not exist, and building backup plans now rather than waiting for last minute cancellations.

Hellenic Train And Proastiakos Network

Italy owned Hellenic Train operates the bulk of Greece's passenger rail, from the Athens to Thessaloniki mainline to regional routes and the Proastiakos suburban network. In Athens, Proastiakos services normally provide the only direct heavy rail link between Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos (ATH), central Athens, and the wider rail system, with trains running through the main Athens railway station and out toward Kiato and Halkida, and with branches that connect to Piraeus.

On a typical day, this structure makes rail an efficient spine for both domestic journeys and airport or port transfers. On a strike day dominated by Hellenic Train staff, the same structure becomes a single point of failure, since the same workforce underpins InterCity services, regional lines, and the suburban routes that many visitors rely on to reach ferries, cruises, and flights.

Latest developments

According to the unions, the November 18 walkout is a direct response to what they describe as systematic indifference to unsafe working conditions, deteriorating rolling stock, staff shortages, and delays in modernizing depots and infrastructure. In their strike notice, they point to recent workplace incidents and argue that understaffing and exhausting schedules now jeopardize both employees and passengers.

The strike will run for the full operating day, from just after midnight to midnight, and applies nationwide. At minimum, travelers should expect most InterCity and regional trains to be canceled, including the high demand Athens to Thessaloniki axis, and only the legally mandated minimum safety and guarantee services to run in each region. Suburban rail in Athens and Thessaloniki, which technically falls under the same company, is expected to be hit as well, so Proastiakos trains between Athens International Airport, central Athens, and Piraeus may not operate at all.

This disruption also comes immediately after the November 17 Polytechnic commemorations, when large marches and tight police security in Athens and Thessaloniki routinely close central streets and sometimes parts of the metro. Greek media are already reporting major deployments of police for this year's commemoration, which suggests that some travelers will face protest related disruption on November 17, then rail paralysis on the 18th. Adept Traveler has already flagged the November 17 protest risk in Athens and Thessaloniki, and travelers should treat this strike as a direct follow on to that advisory rather than a separate event.

Analysis

For visitors flying into or out of Athens International Airport on November 18, the biggest single exposure is the likely loss of Proastiakos trains to and from the terminal. On a normal day, those services provide fast rail access to the mainline, central Athens, and, via connections, to Piraeus. With Hellenic Train staff off the job, you should plan on using airport express buses, the metro, taxis, or private transfers instead.

The good news is that Athens has a robust bus and metro fallback. Four Airport Express Bus lines, operated by OASA, connect the terminal directly with Syntagma, Piraeus, the intercity bus stations, and Elliniko, and they run on a 24 hour basis. X95 links the airport with Syntagma Square in central Athens, X96 links the airport with the Port of Piraeus, X93 serves the Kifissos and Liossion intercity bus terminals, and X97 connects to Elliniko and Line 2 of the metro. Metro Line 3 normally continues to serve the airport too, although any last minute strike decisions by other unions would appear in local announcements rather than the Hellenic Train notice.

If you are connecting to a ferry or cruise from Piraeus on November 18, assume there will be no practical rail route and move now to buses or private road transfers. The X96 express bus remains the simplest direct public option between the airport and Piraeus, with frequent departures and enough luggage space for cruise and island travelers. Build additional buffer into the schedule, especially in the morning and late afternoon peaks, because a rail strike tends to push extra demand onto every remaining bus and taxi.

On the mainland, the loss of Athens to Thessaloniki and other InterCity trains will hit both business travelers and tourists who planned to cross the country by rail. For essential trips on November 18, look first at domestic flights between Athens and regional airports, which have expanded since the Tempi crash and ongoing rail problems, then at long distance coaches if flights are full or too expensive. Renting a car for a one way journey is possible, but you should factor in motorway tolls, fuel costs, and the stress of driving unfamiliar routes after a night or long haul flight.

Safety and trust sit in the background of this strike. The 2023 Tempi crash on the Athens to Thessaloniki line, which killed 57 people and exposed both human error and systemic failures in Greece's rail infrastructure, still shapes public anger and union demands. Even as the government promises to install modern control systems like ETCS on the main axis by late 2025, unions argue that progress is too slow and that frontline staff remain overstretched and under supported. This helps explain why rail strikes in Greece have remained frequent, and why unions are prepared to shut down travel at a sensitive time.

From a passenger rights perspective, EU rail rules say that strikes by rail company staff are not treated as extraordinary circumstances, so standard refund and re routing rights still apply when trains are canceled or heavily delayed. In practice, that means Hellenic Train should offer either a full refund or a rebooking for another day, and in some cases compensation if you arrive very late, although national exemptions and local implementation can limit that in detail. The safest move is to keep your booking confirmation, screenshots of any cancellation messages, and receipts for replacement transport, then file a claim promptly once the company publishes its strike plan.

If your trip relies on tight chains of connections, for example a morning train into Athens followed by a same day flight, or a suburban train to catch a cruise check in window, you should seriously consider pulling that rail segment forward to the day before, or switching it to bus or private transfer entirely. With protests and marches on November 17 and a nationwide rail strike on November 18, Greece's two biggest travel days around the Polytechnic commemoration now look like back to back disruption days rather than normal shoulder season weekdays.

You can also review Adept Traveler's advisory on the November 17 protests in Athens and Thessaloniki, which details likely march routes, areas to avoid, and suggested buffers for airport and port transfers on the day before this rail strike. Together, those two pieces should form the basis of a revised plan that gets you into and out of Athens with less stress, even if trains do not run.

Final thoughts

The November 18 Greece rail strike turns the country's train network into a high risk bet for a full calendar day, only one day after major protest activity in Athens and Thessaloniki. Anyone with flights, ferries, cruises, or long distance journeys touching those dates should now assume that Hellenic Train services will not be available and pivot to buses, metro, taxis, private transfers, and, where needed, domestic flights. With early adjustments, and a generous buffer for transfers, you can still keep most itineraries intact while workers press their case on safety and investment.

Sources

• Hellenic Train Workers Announce 24-Hour Nationwide Strike
• Rail and Suburban Services Halted Tuesday in Nationwide Strike
• Proastiakos Map
• Airport Express Bus Lines - OASA
• Athens Airport Bus - General Information
• Tempi Train Crash
• Greece To Install Train Control Systems By September In Reform After Deadly 2023 Crash
• Rail Passenger Rights - Your Europe