For 550 new buses which will move this year and next year to Athens and Thessalonikithe Minister of Infrastructure and Transport spoke to SKAI Christos Staikouras.

He noted that the competition is already running for 140 electric buses in Athens and 110 in Thessaloniki, which will be available to the public in April-May. At the same time, he said, there is a tender for 300 natural gas buses in Attica.

The minister explained that this does not mean that more buses will be on the roads as the aim is to renew the bus fleet, noting that of the existing fleet in Athens, for example, 39% do not have accessibility for the disabled.

For airport buses the minister said that from March 24 citizens will be able to use bank cards and mobile phones to issue tickets, and this will be extended to all of Attica by the end of the year.

About the means of fixed orbit Mr. Staikouras emphasized that the process of withdrawing 14 trains of line 1 of the metro is in progress, with delivery of the trains until February 25 and 7 trains on line 3, in parallel with the works being done for the creation of line 4.

The minister made special reference to railroad networksaying that the existing network is being strengthened while the goal is to integrate the railway with the ports of the country, such as Lavrio, Patras, Alexandroupoli, Thessaloniki

He noted that the projects to upgrade the Suburban in Western Attica have already started, with the completion of the projects scheduled for the end of 2025.

Referred to to the cost of the permanent rehabilitation of infrastructure – roads, railway network and schools – in Thessaly, he emphasized that the cost amounts to 1.4 billion euros, of which 600 million will come from the Recovery and Resilience fund, and by the end of 2025 the projects related to this amount will be completed .

For the rest, he said, we are in discussion with the Ministry of Finance, so that the resources will be allocated in the following years

He also said that under the plan, by the end of June the competitions will be over and the implementation of the projects will have started

The minister did special reference to the traffic problem in Kifissos, noting that an exercise is in progress between the government and the Region and there will be concrete results in the next period. He emphasized that it is not an easy task, as it is a combination of many factors. He said that there is an instruction from the prime minister to find the best solution. He cited as an example that Kifissos has many businesses that could be moved to other locations

Regarding the electromobilityannounced that 15,219 electric or hybrid vehicles were purchased last year, i.e. 11.3% of the total, double the number of last year

He noted that the ministry is looking for resources and estimated that from around May the program will start I Move Electric 3however – he repeated – we have to see the available resources that we will have