Transport in Athens

Traffic on Kifissias Avenue in Maroussi, northern Athens, was brought to a standstill on Thursday afternoon after a car was engulfed in flames.

The incident occurred at the exit leading to the Attiki Odos ring road.

Police were investigating the reasons why the car caught fire.

No injuries were reported.

Getting around Athens will be that much harder next week as trolley bus and Proastiakos suburban railway drivers have both announced stoppages.

On Wednesday, the capital will not have any trolley bus services from noon to 5 p.m. as workers attend a general assembly that had been postponed.

Trolley buses in Athens will stop running between noon and 5 p.m. on Wednesday as members of the workers' union representing trolley bus workers, ILPAP, attend a general meeting to discuss budgetary issues. 

Commuters using the Greek capital's Proastiakos suburban railway will have to use electronic tickets starting on Monday, as the network run by Trianose implements a similar system to the metro and ISAP electric railway.

Travel passes will be on sale at all Proastiakos, as well as metro and ISAP stations, and can also be charged with fares for the urban transport network.

The electronic ticketing system that is already in operation on the Athens metro and ISAP electric railway will extend on Monday to cover the Proastiakos suburban railway as well, operator Trainose has announced.

Greek rail workers will be holding a series of stoppages and a strike, rail operator Trainose announced on Thursday, without giving a reason for the action.

According to the announcement, workers will walk off the job on Monday for three hours starting at 5 a.m., 1 p.m. and 9 p.m., while on Tuesday, they will stage a 24-hours strike.

A KTEL intercity bus went up in flames on the island of Corfu while traveling between the main town and Tembloni on Tuesday. No one was injured in the blaze.

Piraeus, Greece's biggest port and one of the largest in the Mediterranean, is finally getting a direct rail link to Athens International Airport, starting next month.

Starting on February 1, Piraeus will become a terminus for the Proastiakos suburban railway, connecting the port to the airport at Spata, northeast of the capital.