Crush on Athens metro put down to technical problems
Hundreds of commuters on the Athens metro experienced an “unprecedented” crush during rush hour on Thursday morning at downtown Syntagma station and on several trains on Line 3, with one passenger describing the situation as “asphyxiating.”
“I waited for the metro for around 8 minutes at Agia Marina [station], heading to Nomismatokopio. We couldn’t fit. The situation became asphyxiating at Monastiraki and Syntagma. I’ve experienced crowding at central stations before, but today was unprecedented,” Chryssa, a regular commuter, told Kathimerini, declining to give her full name.
Contacted by Kathimerini for comment, officials at the metro operating company STASY said the crush at Syntagma station was the result of delays caused by technical failures on two successive trains on the Piraeus-Doukissis Plakentias route.
The passengers on the first train were asked to vacate the cars, STASY said without elaborating on the reasons, while the second train reportedly experienced problems with its doors.
The incidents occurred between 8.21-8.36 a.m., after which service was speeded up to restore passenger flow, the company told Kathimerini.
In the meantime, reports also indicated that one of the escalators at Syntagma station was out of order and this also contributed to the crush on the platforms by slowing down commuters.
