Long-delayed launch of Thessaloniki Metro threatened by ticketing fiasco

Eighteen years after construction began on the Thessaloniki Metro, the subway system of Greece's northern port city is finally set to open to the public on November 30. However, a significant issue remains unresolved: ticketing.

Officials failed to initiate procurement procedures for ticket rolls on time, raising the possibility that the metro might start operating without tickets. In a last-ditch effort to avoid a fiasco, officials attempted to leverage an existing contract signed in February 2021 for the procurement of bus tickets and smart passes in a bid to secure an initial batch of 2.7 million paper tickets and 100,000 plastic cards.

However, Greece's Court of Audit intervened, ruling that the launch of the metro system was not an extraordinary event and that a new contract through a bidding competition was necessary due to the large scale of the order.