By F. Zois
A third private rail carrier is reportedly close to entering the up-until-recently closed domestic market, with the relevant regulatory body for rail transport in the country having reportedly approved a license for Piraeus Europe Asia Rail Logistics (Pearl) last week.
The development comes amid a proposed 300-million-euro investment by the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE), the state-run national railway company that owns and manages Greece’s rail railway infrastructure, to build a logistics center at a 165-hectare site in an industrial district west of Athens proper (Thriasio) – in tandem with a new 17-kilometer rail connecting the district with the port of Piraeus.
Piraeus-based Pearl S.A., according to reports, operates under the Cosco umbrella, while its CEO is Athanasios Ziliaskopoulos, a university professor, is the former CEO of previously state-run rail provider Trainose.
Shanghai-based Cosco, a state-controlled multinational and shipping giant, assumed the management of the Piraeus Port Authority in August 2016, along with a 67-percent stake in the latter.
