Greek PM pledges completion of Thessaloniki metro by year-end

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged on Monday that the main line (Line 1) of the long-delayed Thessaloniki metro project would be completed by the end of the year.

"In six months from now, we will deliver the most modern and undoubtedly the most beautiful metro in Europe. The city has been tested by delays, but by the end of the year, we will prove wrong even those who have doubts," Mitsotakis said during a presentation of the planned extension of the metro network to the east of the northern port city.

Line 1 of the subway, which will connect the New Railway Station with Nea Elvetia, is set to extend 9.6 kilometers (six miles) with 13 stations.

Initially announced in 2004 as a solution to chronic traffic congestion in the country's second-largest city, the project has faced delays for over a decade. Construction began in 2006, and the subway was...