He had a meeting on the future of urban transport in Thessaloniki in the morning at the offices of OASTH, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras, in the presence of the Secretary General of Transport Yiannis Xifaras, with executives of OSETH, OASTH, Deloitte and representatives of urban transport workers.

“I remind you that there is a backlog from 2017 concerning the OASTHwhich is in special liquidation” stated Mr. Staikouras and continued:

“We, in the last period of time, have strengthened it and are strengthening it, with a fleet. In the coming months you will see one hundred and ten new electric buses circulating on the streets of Thessaloniki, but we have also strengthened it with personnel, one hundred and fifty contracted drivers and in the following days it has a request is made from the administration and from the political leadership of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport for another forty drivers, so that there is even more fleet on the streets of Thessaloniki. Certainly until the metro starts operating in November 2024”.

Mr. Staikouras noted that, beyond the legal issues, how the public OASTH will operate in the coming years “not in terms of 2024, but in terms of the next decades” under the “umbrella” of the OSETH, with the addition, where needed and private individuals, as is done today, with tenders and contracts, so that the transport project is sufficient.

“We have to see how we will improve transportation in the city in the coming years” said the Minister and after noting that all the data must be taken into account, such as the upcoming operation of the metro, the completion of the fly over, the road interventions, he added:

“In this direction, OSETH has been requested to have a mapping of the needs of society in the coming decades in the city and in the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki”.

The Minister underlined that at the beginning of March the 110 ten electric buses will arriveso that some of them will be put into circulation, depending on the additional staff available, in the months of April and May and he estimated that during this time around three hundred and forty buses can circulate in the city, out of the three hundred currently in circulation.

Mr. Staikouras reminded that the tender for the seven hundred and fifty new buses with anti-pollution technology for Athens and Thessaloniki is expected within the next two months, the two hundred and fifty of which are intended for Thessaloniki.

Photo source: thestival