Hellenic Train trains

Hellenic Train operates Greece's national passenger rail network, connecting Athens and Thessaloniki to most of the country's regional capitals. The operator was formed from the privatisation of the former state operator TrainOSE, which was sold to Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, the Italian state railway group that also owns Trenitalia, in 2017. It took the Hellenic Train name in 2022.

The network runs from Patras in the west, through Athens, up to Alexandroupolis in the northeast, and out to Florina in the northwest. Suburban and regional services also cover Athens, Thessaloniki, and Patras. For long-distance travel, InterCity (IC) trains are the backbone of the network, and they are what most Interrail and Eurail travellers will use to move between Greek cities.

Do not board an IC train in Greece without a seat reservation. Reservation is compulsory on Intercity services within the country, and the same rule applies to the international train linking Thessaloniki with Sofia in Bulgaria. This catches out plenty of pass holders, because an Interrail or Eurail travel day covers the fare, not the seat. Pass holders are exempted from paying the usual travel supplement on Hellenic Train services, but the separate compulsory reservation still has to be bought.

Reservations for IC services can be made at station ticket counters. In practice, that means Athens Larissa station, Thessaloniki station, or Patras. If you are travelling from Athens to Thessaloniki, or continuing north towards Bulgaria, book your seat there rather than assuming your pass alone is enough to board.

The exception is the overnight Athens to Thessaloniki service. Reservation is not compulsory on this train, but it is worth making one anyway. Overnight capacity is limited, and turning up without a booked seat can mean standing for a journey that runs through the night.

For most travellers exploring Greece by rail, the practical approach is straightforward. Buy your Interrail or Eurail pass as usual, then treat the seat reservation as a separate, compulsory step for any IC journey. Build a short stop at a ticket counter into your plan before your first Intercity leg, since Hellenic Train's reservation system is not something you can rely on booking in advance from outside Greece. Check the reservation fee for your specific train when you book, since Hellenic Train does not publish one flat rate across the network.

If you are combining the mainland with the Greek islands, Hellenic Train also runs part of the connection. Travellers on the 6-day Greek Islands Pass get a free transfer between the port of Patras and the port of Piraeus, by bus or suburban railway, as part of that pass. This only applies to the 6-day version, not the 4-day Greek Islands Pass, so check which pass you are holding before assuming the transfer is included. Passes for Eurail and Interrail travel on Hellenic Train can be issued at the railway stations in Athens Larissa, Thessaloniki, and Patras, the same counters used for compulsory IC reservations.