Vandals strike station again
Hooded assailants vandalized the Petralona train station in Athens late on Friday, in the latest of a string of attacks on the capital’s metro and electric railway (ISAP), despite stepped-up security.
According to reports, a group of around 10 people, wearing hoods and carrying sledgehammers, smashed windows, five ticket validation machines, five ticket dispensing machines and two computers in the station master’s office.
The attack follows a number of similar assaults on central stations like Monastiraki, Kerameikos, Aghios Eleftherios and Thiseio that began last December. The attacks prompted local authorities to post special police units outside central metro and ISAP stations, which did not, however, prevent the Petralona incident.
Last week, the home of a female ticket inspector was sprayed with paint that read “Snitch ticket inspector lives here. Get out of the neighborhood,” while the homes of two more female inspectors were tagged earlier in the month.
In March, metro staff staged a 24-hour strike to protest the attacks and the publication of a list with the names of 125 ticket inspectors on an anti-establishment website and a text urging the public to attack them.
