Electric buses begin trial runs on streets of capital

Test runs began in Athens on Tuesday for 32 of 140 new electric buses that road transport organization OSY has bought from Chinese company Yutong.

Based on the supply contract, they will have to circulate 18 hours a day, without passengers, until they complete 5,000 km in daily traffic conditions.

OSY Managing Director Stefanos Agiasoglou says the state-of-the-art buses will usher in a new era in urban transport and the green mobility transition. 

Agiasoglou, along with Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras and his deputy Nikos Tachiaos, boarded one of the buses on Syngrou Avenue. During one of its stops, a group of elementary school pupils hopped on.

"The children's enthusiasm for the brand-new electric vehicle is the greatest satisfaction for the implementation of the government's announcement regarding the renewal of the company's...