Athens subway works halted for safety checks after apartment damage reports

Athens Mayor Haris Doukas said on Thursday that construction of a new line for the city's subway network had been halted for safety tests after dozens of residents reported damage to their flats.

Doukas told reporters that the tunnel boring machine had stopped in Kypseli, a central Athens district where residents have reported damage to buildings beginning in March. The mayor's office said discussion focused on cracks and damage that had appeared in 200 apartments in the area where subway construction works are underway.

Doukas said the city requested written guarantees on the structural adequacy of the buildings and an independent public body to certify that they are structurally sound.

Elliniko Metro, the construction company, said the project is being carried out in full compliance with modern safety standards for tunnelling works in an urban environment. The company said that, based on available data and on-site inspections, no issues involving structural integrity or the bearing structure had been detected in any building.

The company also said boring in Kypseli had already been suspended in May because of what it described as unforeseeable and undetectable conditions in weak geological subsoil.

The subway line's completion has already been delayed to 2032 from an original target of 2029. The report said concerns about the structural integrity of old buildings in Athens have increased after a four-storey block of flats in another district collapsed in June. That incident was blamed on inadequate support during construction of an adjacent new building.