Public transport

Public transport in Athens has moved to a summer timetable, affecting the frequency of all modes apart from connections with Athens International Airport and the capital’s coastal areas.

According to the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA), metro and electric railway trains will run every 7.5 minutes at peak times until the end of July.

By Alexandra Kassimi

Transport Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis announced on Monday that as of September 1 a single ticket costing 1.20 euros will be made available for all means of public transport in Athens, down from 1.40 euros for the metro and the Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway, but its duration will be for 70 minutes instead of 90 today.

Public transport is set to become cheaper starting on September 1, Transport Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis announced on Monday.

By Alexandra Kassimi

The Infrastructures and Transport Ministry is set to announce on Monday a decrease, rather than an increase, to the price of public transport, along with an overhaul of the entire network in Athens.

A new set of travelcards, covering three- and six-month periods, are due to be made available to commuters in Athens.

Until now only weekly, monthly and annual travelcards had been on offer.

Deputy Transport Minister Michalis Papadopoulos signed a decision on Wednesday that will see the new cards, which will cost between 58 and 248 euros, come into use.

A 15-year-old Afghan immigrant was found dead in a truck carrying croissants at the port of Igoumenitsa on Thursday.

According to reports, the youngster had stowed away in the truck with several other irregular migrants.

However, after a while, the atmosphere in the vehicle became stifling and the stowaways abandoned the vehicle.

The state-run company that manages Attica’s buses and trolley buses, OSY, on Tuesday announced the dismissal of another 35 members of staff after an ongoing internal investigation revealed they had secured their jobs by submitting false certificates.

The dismissals bring the number of public transport staff dismissed due to fraudulent applications to 135.

Even as troika pressure for cutbacks at state organizations continues as part of a streamlining program, hundreds of staff are to be hired to public transport companies which have been left seriously understaffed by a wave of early retirements and dismissals.

The two tunnel boring machines that are being used to construct the Thessaloniki metro are to start work again after almost two years, it was revealed on Tuesday.

The borers have dug 73 percent of the tunnel space needed to complete the metro and will now be transported to the end of the line so they can bore the remaining 27 percent in the reverse direction.

By Alexandra Kassimi

In good news for public transport users in Athens, there has been a positive development in the tender for the introduction of electronic tickets, which has been 10 years in the making.

Transport organization OASA on Tuesday provisionally selected the Terna Energy-LG CNS consortium as the preferred bidder.