The 1880s proved a seminal decade in the development of Agrinio. An extensive public works programme, initiated by the visionary prime minister Charilaos Trikoupis (1832-1896), transformed the town and the region. Access was improved by a new paved road to Missolonghi and a bridge across the river Achelous. But it was the arrival of the railroad that truly laid the foundations for the town’s growth. The line Missolonghi-Agrinio was completed in 1889 and two years later it was extended to Kryoneri on the coast of the Gulf of Patras, where there was a dock for the steamships that carried the tobacco of Agrinio to Piraeus or the European markets. The town was finally open for business.