Trains resume operation after minister’s intervention
Trains resumed their operation along Greece’s core railway line linking Athens with Thessaloniki from 3 p.m. on Tuesday, following the intervention by Transport and Infrastructures Minister Kostas Karamanlis that led to the departure of unionists from the main train depot at Rendi in Piraeus.
Certain services on the Athens suburban railway (Proastiakos) were also expected to resume operation in the evening, reaching the Athens International Airport.
Speaking on Skai TV in the morning Karamanlis stated that the unionists who staged a sit-in at the Rendi station should leave or face the disciplinary and legal consequences due.
Railway operator Trainose claims it had not been notified about a strike until late on Monday about its employees joining the national strike that paralyzed all public transport in the country.
Trainose had announced on Monday it would not participate in the 24-hour strike called by Greece's umbrella civil servants' union ADEDY against the government's social security bill, and therefore services would not be affected.
Trainose chief executive officer Filippos Tsalidis told Skai Radio on Tuesday morning that the Italian-owned railway service operator would do “what it must” during the day for the resumption of services.
