NEWS

Transport tickets to become more expensive

The cost of using public transport is set to increase by up to 40 percent from the start of next month in a bid to bring some much-needed funds into the debt-ridden companies managing the network, sources have told Kathimerini.

A 90-minute travelcard that can be used on all modes of transport in Athens currently costs 1 euro, but as of February 1 it is due to be replaced by two more expensive options.

A 1.20-euro ticket will allow passengers to use any mode of transport bar the metro for a single journey. There will also be a 1.40-euro ticket that will be valid for 90 minutes and which can be used for metro journeys as well.

It is expected that the price hikes, due to be announced in the next few days, will bring in an extra 80 million euros this year for the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA). The government is also examining proposals involving the merger of companies that run the various modes of transport in a bid for more efficiency and lower costs.

Meanwhile, workers on the Piraeus-Kifissia electric railway (ISAP), the Athens metro and the tram are to hold a four-hour work stoppage from noon on Monday, continuing their protest at the government?s plans to streamline public transport companies. Bus and trolley bus services will be suspended between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the same day.

ISAP employees are also planning work stoppages from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday and a 24-hour strike on Thursday, January 13. It is unclear whether workers on other modes of transport are planning to join their ISAP colleagues in the successive stoppages.

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