Piraeus from across the country. A number of events contributed to the development of the city ; among these were its ultimate declaration as the leading port of Greece, the completion of the Athens-Piraeus Railway in 1869, the industrial development of the area in the 1860s, and the creation of the Corinth Canal in 1893, all of which left Piraeus more strategically important than ever. New buildings were constructed to cover the necessities of this growth, such as educational institutions, churches, the Stock Exchange Building, the Town Hall, the Central Market, the Post Office Building and charity institutions; the port was
Piraeus-Perama light railway at Methonis street, allowing freight trains to access Keratsini Port. At Keratsini a short branch was constructed leading to one of the jetties. Due to serious damages on infrastructure and rolling stock caused by Allied bombing of Piraeus on 11 January 1944 the line paused service until April 1945. Most of its time the line was exploited with two kind of regular services: one full length service from Piraeus to the Naval Base, running every 15 minutes with two car formation of the rolling stock (line number 4) and in between, 7,5 minutes after, a short service from Piraeus to