Cost of travelcards climbs in Athens
Despite recent assurances to the contrary, the prices of Athens public transport travelcards have increased. The cost of regular tickets remains unchanged even though it was meant to go up on January 1.
Without any prior warning, the Transport Ministry has put up the prices of monthly travelcards (including journeys to Athens International Airport) from 45 to 49 euros. Three-month travelcards in the same category have edged up from 130 to 142 euros, six-month ones from 230 to 250 euros and annual cards from 450 to 490 euros.
Six-month travelcards that do not allow holders to ride the metro to the airport now cost 170 rather than 165 euros. The cost of the annual travelcard in this category has gone up from 320 to 330 euros.
The price of normal tickets was meant to increase from 1.20 to 1.40 euros in order to incorporate the increase in the value-added tax rate on transport from 13 to 23 percent. However, this has yet to be implemented, which is leading to an estimated loss of 2 million euros a month for the transport companies.
