Here it is!’ Thessaloniki gets its metro

Thessaloniki residents braved the bluster of Storm Bora to welcome the much-anticipated metro to their city on its inaugural run on Saturday afternoon, touring the stations, admiring the exhibitions of antiquities found during its excavations and riding the trains.

"This is a great day," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the metro's official opening, before pushing the button to commence service. "I am sure that, until the very last moment, many people in the city did not believe it would happen. Yet, here it is!" he said at a ceremony attended by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and dozens of other officials.

In celebration of the Thessaloniki metro's launch, rides will be free through Tuesday, after which a single ticket will cost 0.60 euros. Service will run from 5.30 a.m. until 12.30 past midnight on weekdays and until 2 a.m. on weekends.