He announced in Parliament the upgrade of the urban transport fleet the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras together with the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport, Christina Alexopoulou, accompanied by the General Secretary of Transport, Yiannis Xifaras.

During the meeting of the Standing Committee on Production and Trade, Mr. Staikouras presented the contract for the supply of two hundred and fifty (250) electric city buses, modern technology, in accordance with SECTION 5 of the conducted electronic tender (proclamation no. 6/2021) and the timetable for upgrading the urban transport fleet with 1,300 new buses at the end of the four-year period.

In this context, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport analyzed the timetable for strengthening the transport operators’ fleet, based on which the arrival of 250 electric buses is expected by the end of April 2024, of which 140 will be used in Athens and 110 in Thessaloniki .

This is the initial part of the first tender, which concerns, cumulatively, 650 new vehicles with anti-pollution technology, all of which are expected to have been put into circulation by the middle of 2025.

Meanwhile, the second tender is also being launched immediately, with the object of an additional 650 vehicles with anti-pollution technology, as the start of the drafting of the Declaration has already been planned, with an estimate to complete the delivery of these vehicles at the end of the four years.

Mr. Staikouras initially presented today’s data that prove that the transport operators in the two cities have an aging fleet with an average age of vehicles of 18.8 years, compared to the average age among all the member states of the European Union, which amounts to 12.7 years. At the same time, he pointed out the direct impact of the age of the fleet on the high frequency of breakdowns and the temporary nature of the solutions with leasing contracts and related KTEL to cover the transportation project.

Evidencing the argumentation for the decision to procure new vehicles, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport also recalled the need to comply with the Community Directive which requires 33%/47% of new city buses to be “clean” by 2025/2030, respectively.

Mr. Staikouras underlined the efforts being made in order to deal with the traffic problems that will arise from the start of the Thessaloniki Flyover projects, while finally, he announced the creation of two Metropolitan Agencies to deal with the traffic problems in Athens and Thessaloniki .

For her part, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, responsible for Transport, Christina Alexopoulou pointed out that electric mobility is part of the strategy followed by the Government to create a new culture in the area of ​​Transport. He even emphasized that these directions are included in the government program, but also in the planning that is being developed at the level of the European Union.

Regarding the contract, the Deputy Minister of Transport noted that:

Supply of 250 simple 12-meter electric urban vehicles with a minimum range of 180 km.

Supply of accessories, i.e. independent stationary slow charge chargers, one per vehicle or one per two vehicles, depending on the charging capabilities of the chargers, i.e. 125 to 250 in total.

Supply of seven mobile units with appropriate configuration and equipment for the mobile service of electric buses in case of need for on-site charging.

Preparation of the Installation Report of the Slow Charging Chargers at the train stations of Attica and Thessaloniki.

This contract for the supply of the new electric buses for Athens and Thessaloniki marks the start of the supply of a total of 1,300 new vehicles with anti-pollution technology, implementing another commitment of the Government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, underlined Ms. Alexopoulou, an action that constitutes a deeply pro-people policy, the which directly benefits millions of citizens.

Read HERE in detail about the fleet upgrade