Greece inaugurated on Thursday the key connection of the Greek railway network to Piraeus port in a bid to turn the country's biggest port into a major transit hub for the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Europe.

"After years of difficulties, it is now time to deliver the extremely significant technical project that connects Thriassio - Ikonio, a railway line of 17 km, with 10 tunnels and 10 bridges," Greek Development, Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said after the inauguration ceremony.

"This day is very important as Greek railways and the port of Piraeus enter a new era, the era of intermodal transports," said Hatzidakis.

Hatzidakis was among the first passengers who arrived at Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) on Thursday by train after the completion of the cargo line between the container terminal site at Ikonio in western Piraeus and the rest of the national network.

The 17-km cargo line extends to the country's main logistics center at Thriassio in western Attica.

"This development is the basis of the agreement between COSCO, Hewlett-Packard and Trainose. Tomorrow there will be the signing of the agreement and all these developments show that Greece doesn't quit during crisis, but is moving forward and will come back to growth," Hatzidakis stressed during a press conference at Piraeus.

The opening of the railway network link paves the way for the signing of a deal between Chinese shipping giant COSCO, Greek rail service operator Trainose and U.S. electronics giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) at Piraeus for the transfer of HP products to the Greek port for their distribution to Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Furthermore, the inauguration of this commercial rail line will boost Greece's competitiveness and create more jobs, Greek Shipping Minister Kostas Moussouroulis said.

Thursday's ceremony was attended also by PCT General Manager Fu Chengqiu, Piraeus Port Authority President George Anomeritis.

Hailing the project as another example of win-win cooperation between Greece and China, Fu said that he believed this project should be good for the future of Greece and COSCO.

"We have good collaboration and we have got more business (for the port and for Greece)," said Fu, highlighting the good relationship between Greece and China.

PCT, a COSCO subsidiary which runs Pier II at Piraeus port, commenced operations at Ikonio in 2009 with a vision to convert it into the first large scale container terminal in Greece.

The new railway track which is delivered for commercial use, is regarded as a very significant work which will reduce by about a week the time needed for the transfer of goods from Asia across Europe from Piraeus port.

Through the Greek national railway network the products will be transferred to other Balkan countries and then on to Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic.