Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization

The long-suffering tender for the supply of new buses to renew the aging fleet of the transport companies of Athens and Thessaloniki (OASA and OASTH) is moving forward.

Bus drivers in the northern port city of Thessaloniki will be walking off the job for five hours on Thursday, in action similar to their Athens colleagues.

The Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization (OASTH) is to hold talks on Monday with representatives of the privately run intercity bus service (KTEL) in a bid to tackle a serious bus shortage in the northern port city.

State corporations (DEKO) have been left in a sorry state following SYRIZA's four-year term in government and the next administration following the July 7 election will have to deal with explosive conditions, especially at Hellenic Post, the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization (OASTh), Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE) and of course Public Power Corporation (PPC).

In a statement on Friday, Stelios Pappas, the head of the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization (OASTH) described the burglary of his home on Thursday night as an attempt to hamper efforts to liquidate the company.

The burglary, during which only a laptop was stolen, was "a targeted intervention," Pappas said in a statement.

A legislative amendment voted through Parliament on Wednesday night paves the way for private firms to operate buses on routes serviced by public transport networks in Athens and Thessaloniki, prompting protests by workers.

A legislative amendment voted through Parliament last night paves the way for private firms to operate buses on routes serviced by public transport networks in Athens and Thessaloniki, prompting protests by workers.

Police in Thessaloniki have arrested the former chief of the northern port city's transport authority for running up debts to the EFKA social security funds of more than 2.35 million euros.

Christos Stefanidis, 74, stands accused of delaying social security payments due by the OASTH company. The period under question appears to be February 2017, according to the ANA-MPA news agency.

A collision between an automobile and an urban transit (OASTH) bus in the city center of Thessaloniki left three people injured Friday morning.

According to the fire brigade, six firefighters were dispatched to the scene and performed an extraction operation to save two people, the driver and a passenger, who were pinned inside the car. The third injury was a passenger on the bus.

In the latest clash between the judiciary and the leftist-led government, the Council of State on Friday suspended a decision by the Transport Ministry to renationalize the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization (OASTH).

The ruling followed an appeal by shareholders in OASTH for plans to liquidate the company to be suspended.