Athens’ Public Transport System Gets Green “Facelift”

The public transportation system in Greece’s capital city of Athens is getting a “green facelift” through the renewal of its fleet of buses, upgrades to the metro line, and even heightened security at metro stations over the next few years, according to OT.gr.

The green transformation of Athens’ public transport is being conducted by the Urban Transport Organization (OASA), in collaboration with The National Fund of Greece, also known as the Growthfund. The Growthfund manages a substantial portfolio of State-Owned Enterprises valued at 5.5 billion euros.

OASA is a Group of state-owned enterprises and is responsible for the strategic and business planning, coordination and control of public transport in the Attica region, and the plans include OASA’s two 100% owned subsidiaries called Urban Rail Transport SA (STASY) and Road Transport Services SA (OSY).

Fleet Upgrades

At an event which included the CEO of OASA, the CEO of the Growthfund, the CEO of OSY and the CEO of STASY, the leadership detailed the plans which include the complete renewal of Attica’s bus fleet, supported by funding from Greece’s Ministry of Transport.

They plan on adding 951 new buses by 2025 , which will be comprised of 140 electric buses, 300 running on CNG, 300 via leasing and 211 new buses to service suburban routes. Moreover, an additional 550 will be added via a competitive bid process by 2027 which will include 375 new buses and 175 trolleys.

Speaking about the plans, the CEO of OSY Stefanos Agiasoglou said, “Today 1,200 old buses are on the roads and we estimate that by 2027 there will be 1,300 new ones supported by new technologies for the public. The demand is great, if we consider that the fleet conducts approximately 20,000 bus routes per day.”

He added, “The first test routes are already being conducted with 140 new electric buses and we are satisfied with the initial feedback that we have from trial runs.”

The Athens metro system is undergoing 2.5 million euros worth of upgrades including beefing up security through drones to protect the stations from vandalism and even suicide attempts.

Previously announced plans are still underway that involve upgrading decommissioned trains and purchasing new ones.

Hydrogen buses, Trains Powered with PVs and Kinetic Energy

OSY is also experimenting with the idea of integrating hydrogen-fueled buses into its fleet and is piloting the idea through the purchase of 3-4 buses. Refueling of the buses will take place in Ano Liosia, which is just north of Athens’ city center, through a hydrogen refueling station.

The CEO of STASY Thanasis Kottaras reminded attendees of the event of the pilot project to harness the power generated from the braking of trains to kinetic energy, and put it back into the grid.

Initial projection show that 12.5% of total annual consumption will be recovered through the 4 million euro budgeted project.

Kottaras added that STASY is waiting for its application to install PV panels and generate its own electricity at its tram station in the Ellinikon area, located south of Athens, to be approved by the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (HENDO or DEDDIE).

The PV panels will cover an estimated 73% of the station’s needs and lower energy costs by 330,000 euros per year, said Kottaras.

Source: tovima.com