Transport in Athens

Crises tend to reveal what people, groups and organizations are truly made of, and this is especially so with the current health crisis.

The decision announced on Monday by the STASY union of fixed-rail public transport workers to go on a 24-hour strike on Thursday - leaving the Greek capital without metro, ISAP electric railway and tram services - is one such example.

STASY staff join the 24-hour strike

A big fire at a plastics factory in the northern Athens suburb of Metamorfossi has shut down the highway to Thessaloniki, as well as the Attiki Odos ring road, near its junction with the highway.

Early in the afternoon, the direction to the north was opened to traffic.

Tolls on the Attiki Odos open segment to the airport are free.

The maximum passenger capacity on all public transport in Greece as well as intercity buses (KTEL) is increased to 65 percent from the current 50 percent, according to a joint ministerial decision issued on Tuesday.

The decision will remain in place until June 14.

The operation of Athens' tram between Zephyros and Mousson stations in the southern part of the city will stop for about five hours on June 6 due to works for the installation of a pedestrian bridge, it was announced Thursday.

French group Leroy Merlin's new store was completed by the Aktor construction company at 60 Kifissou Avenue in Kolonos, west of the city center of Athens, within a period of just six months.
The €15 million project concerns a building of 12,000 square meters on the plot where the construction of the Academy Gardens mall was previously planned.

Compensation for highway concessions is back on the agenda. One after another the selected contractors are filing notifications of the huge decline in toll revenues at the Infrastructure Ministry, triggering the procedure to calculate compensation for their contracts.

Highway traffic has dropped considerably in the last few days as a result of the shuttering of schools and businesses and citizens choosing to stay at home to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

British-Italian crooner Jack Savoretti visits Greece for a concert at the Iera Odos live venue in the center of Athens. Savoretti gained great popularity in Greece during 2019 thanks to his singles of that year, including "Candlelight" and "Love Is On The Line." He has worked with singers such as Kylie Minogue and Mika and his sixth album, "Singing to Strangers," was #1 in the UK Charts.

Trains and the suburban railway will not participate in a 24-hour strike of employees in public transport on Tuesday, called in protest at the government's social security bill.

The planned full-day strike in the tram, metro, ISAP railway, trolley or bus service is expected to cause major traffic in Athens.