“Resources from the Recovery and Resilience Fund ultimately go to the citizen, go to the middle class, go to those who really need it”
The political leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport visited today the depot of Road Communications SA. in Agios Ioannis Rentis, where the first electric bus is now located, out of the total of 250 new vehicles that are expected to strengthen the urban transport fleet of Athens and Thessaloniki, in order to carry out the necessary technical tests. The rest, 140 buses for Athens and 110 for Thessaloniki, will follow in early March.
“The resources from the Recovery and Resilience Fund are ultimately directed to the citizen, directed to the middle class, directed to those who are really in need,” he noted, among others, from the Road Transport Depot S.A. in Agios Ioannis Rentis the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Christos Staikouras.
In the context of the visit, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport, Christina Alexopoulou and the General Secretary of Transport, Yiannis Xifaras were informed by the Management of OSY SA. for the process of technical tests and the operation of the charging system, while a test run of the vehicle was also carried out inside the depot area. It is noted that the supply of electric buses is implemented with the funding of the European Union’s Recovery & Resilience Fund, through the Greece 2.0 Plan.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras, said:
“We had the opportunity today, as the political leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, to go to the depot and board the first electric bus together with the Administration. The first electric bus arrived in Greece, while the rest will follow, 140 for Athens and 110 for Thessaloniki, at the beginning of March. So that together with the facilities, together with the charging stations that have already started to be implemented in Thessaloniki and will follow in Athens, all of these buses will be in operation in the coming months. Just as we had promised. So that we can improve the bus fleet, reduce the age, the average age of them, serve the disabled who currently face a significant problem, since 39% of the fleet cannot serve them, but also at the same time, prove that the resources from the Recovery and Resilience Fund ultimately go to the citizen, go to the middle class, go to those who really need it.”
The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport, Christina Alexopoulou, emphasized:
“The first electric bus marks our path towards the transport of 2030. With our eyes on Sustainable Urban Mobility, Green Transport, but also the change of culture for citizens, through methodical work and strict adherence to schedules, we are carrying out the order of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, i.e. to change the image of the city bus fleet. In about a month, the remaining 249 electric buses will be on the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki. The goal is to change the everyday life of citizens. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport continues on the path to develop greener, safer and more efficient Transport. The political leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is working very hard and methodically, together with the Administrations, because electric buses can change the daily life of all of us, but they need a special care to bring to our country what belongs to it and belongs to it in Public transport”.
The General Secretary of Transport, Yannis Xifaras, stated:
“It is a particularly important day today, since after three years of efforts to launch this competition, we have now managed to have the first electric bus here with us. It is important to point out that it is the beginning, not only for the buses involved in this contract, but for an effort that has started and we are running it daily and methodically with the political leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, so that we can finally upgrade the fleet of buses in Athens and to completely change the image of urban transport in Athens and Thessaloniki”.
For his part, the Managing Director of OSY S.A. Stefanos Agiasoglou noted:
“We fully implement the political and strategic planning of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. We are carrying out the orders of the Minister, the Deputy Minister and the Secretary General and I believe that 2024, after great efforts that have been made in recent years, will be a landmark year. And this, because the essential change and renewal of the fleet will begin in electrification and at the same time, there will be a small step with the financing of the European Union for hydrogen propulsion”.
Source: Skai
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