Longest Balkan railway tunnel opens in Greece (VIDEO)

The longest tunnel in Greece and the Balkans was finally opened to rail traffic this week after years of construction.

The Kallidromo tunnel, situated in central Greece is nine kilometers (5.6 miles) long and is located in the Tithorea-Lianokladi-Domokos section of the Athens – Thessaloniki line.

Opening the tunnel took a long 16 years as the first works began in the distant 1997 and the tunnel was finally fully dug on May 22, 2013.

With the completion of the last section of the Athens-Thessaloniki line, the time between the two cities will be reduced to roughly 3 hours and 25 minutes.