Travelling from Diakofto to Kalavrita in the cog railway
The northern side of Kalavrita valley is the origin of the Vouraikos gorge that was formed by the efforts of the homonymous river (called Erasinos in the ancient times) to end up in the Corinthian bay. It is perhaps the most beautiful natural monument in the area of Kalavrita.
In 1896, the construction of the project was assigned by Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis and his government to the French contractor Aton. The route passes through the gorge next to the river, thus the cog railway connected the wider area of Kalavrita to Patra and Athens covering for the lack of road access. The first locomotives were steam-driven using coal, while today the train consists of two wagons and is driven by a diesel locomotive located in between. Even now, the track includes rails marked with the date of its construction. All facilities (stations, stops, etc.), and a 20m zone on both sides of the railway track have been characterized as historical monuments according to a resolution of the Ministry of Culture.
The distance from the Diakofto railway station to Kalavrita is 22km, and the route lasts approx. 1 hour. Due to the very steep inclination of the track (maximum 145%), no conventional train could travel on it. Therefore, at the construction stage, a cog straightedge was fitted in three parts for a total length of 3.5km between the rails, that interlocks with a mechanism in the locomotive. Thus, the train can ascend to 750m from sea level, to the Kalavrita station where the route ends. The cog railway features the smallest track gauge (0.75m) in Europe.
At the beginning, the route is smooth and after the fields of the coast it enters the first narrowing of the gorge consisting of impressive reddish walls eroded by water. After the first tunnel, it reaches the first station, Niamata, at a platform among the mountains. Subsequently, it reaches the first part where the "cog" starts interlocking and the train moves at a low speed. After passing through many tunnels, the train passes the Triklion station and reaches Portes, an impressive point of the route. This is the narrowest point of the gorge, and the track is routed through a tunnel. One can still find heavy iron doors at two portals of the tunnel, that are now rusted, which were opened only for the train to pass, and remained closed at all other times to prevent pedestrians from crossing it, so that the passing of the gorge was possible only by means of the railway.
After traveling along the last ascending part using the cog mechanism, the train reaches the Zahlorou station, which is of the greatest significance. The area is ideal during summer, where the large number of plane trees combined with the water that flows in the river create a fresh and pleasant atmosphere. Furthermore, from this station one can visit the Mega Spileon monastery on foot.
The route proceeds smoothly, passes from Kerpini station and ends up to the last station of Kalavrita.
Furthermore, the visitor can organise an excursion by combining a journey by cog railway and hiking. He/She can take the cog railway from Diakofto to Zahlorou and then descend easily on foot to Niamata. This part of the route is the most interesting. Subsequently, the visitor can take the cog railway to Diakofto. After all, we should not miss out visiting it and protecting it, since such places are rare on earth.
TIME SCHEDULE
The cog railway will be out of order until the beginning of 2008, due to restoration works.
For this page, we used the following sites: www.ose.gr and www.diakopto.gr, where you can find more information.
