“The prime minister has made an excellent choice. Mr Tasoulas is seen by democratic principles and values, has experience, he has a high sense of responsibility. I think it will serve the highest state institution with a high degree of responsibility, responsibility and seriousness, “the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Christos Staikouras told SKAI and” Good Morning “.

On the occasion of the mobilization of taxi drivers for the use of buses, Mr Staikouras stressed: “In taxi we make no change in relation to the existing regime. And today taxis can board and land on the bus. They ask to pass through. It is an object of discussion to be evaluated. ”

The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure announced the placement of cameras on buses. “Bus cameras will facilitate taxi control. It’s something OASA thinks and let’s go piloting it, “he said.

Concerning the modernization of the public transport fleet, Mr Staikouras stressed that “at OASTH we hired 180 drivers, we renewed the fleet of vehicles by 50%. Today 300 buses are circulating in Thessaloniki, ”and pointed out the significant increase of 37% in ticket issuance. “In the last quarter of 2024 we cut 7.5 million tickets from 5.4 million a year ago,” he said.

On the issues created in the Thessaloniki subway, the Minister of Transport confirmed that there are some minor problems in the meantime and spoke of “incidents that are happening around the world. The incident that happened in the past, with passengers moving because the train stopped at the next station is something that has been done 15 times in the last month around the world. It is safe and is what is foreseen when there is any indication of security, this process is followed. It was done in New York, it was in London. ”

“At the beginning of the operation of these media these problems arise. But let’s not lose the big picture. Only in December 1.4 million passengers moved. More than 250,000 tickets were cut, 60,000 personalized cards came out and reduced traffic in downtown Thessaloniki by 10%, “he added.

Mr Staikouras also pointed out that by November 2025 the Thessaloniki subway would have expanded by 5 km and 5 new boarding stations would have been created, and estimated that the entire opening of line 4 would be completed by the end of 2026. Athens Metro.

At the same time, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure stressed that “278 new buses in Attica, while in the next 10 days 50 18m buses will be released in Athens. The next month will be released 100 meters of electricity. By the end of the summer we will have 950 new buses on the streets of Attica. “

“We will have a full refresh of the bus fleet. Absolutely accessible from the whole of Greek society, “he added. He noted, however, that there are shortages of drivers in urban transport. “There are very important driver deficiencies. If we manage and at the end of next month we have 352 drivers, we will take 110 buses on the streets of Athens, “he said.