The Egnatia Motorway is served by nine (9) Vertical Axes, which form part of the Pan-European Axes and link Greece with the Balkan and European countries.

These Vertical Axes connect the Egnatia Motorway with the Greek-Albanian borders (towards Tirana), Western Bulgaria (towards Sofia), Eastern Bulgaria (Bourgas) and FYROM (towards Skopje).

When these Axes are completed, distances and response times will be significantly reduced. The city of Thessaloniki will be three hours away from the capitals of Northern Balkan countries, and Greece –especially its Northern region- will have multiple obvious economic benefits.

Trans-European Transport Networks

In addition to the construction of the motorway mainline, EGNATIA ODOS A.E. undertook the management of design and construction of three core Vertical Axes out of the nine (9) serving the main axis.

These axes are:

	Α. Siatista – Ieropigi – Kristalopigi (Albania – Pan-European Corridor VIII). Total length: 72km. Construction cost: 320M€
	Β. Thessaloniki – Serres - Promachonas (Bulgaria – Pan-European Corridor IV). Total length: 96km. Construction cost: 310M€
	C. Ardanio - Ormenio (Bulgaria – Pan-European Corridor IX). Total length: 124km. Construction cost: 240M€

Since July 2006, EGNATIA ODOS A.E. has undertaken the design and construction of two more Vertical Axes:

	Α. Komotini – Nimfea – Greek-Bulgarian Borders (Bulgaria – Pan-European Corridor IX)
	Β. Xanthi – Echinos – Greek-Bulgarian Borders (Bulgaria)