Transport strikes planned for next month as service suffers

Public transport workers in Athens are planning to hold a 24-hour strike in the first 10 days of December. Unionists said on Tuesday that they are planning the action because they feel that the transport system is suffering from a lack of funding.

They argue that if the ministries paid the money they owe to the public transport companies for the provision of tickets for civil servants, it would cover a big part of the financial shortfall that has affected the service on offer to commuters.

The head of the union representing workers at the Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA), Leonidas Skoulos, said that the number of buses in service in Athens has fallen from 1,703 in 2009 to 1,127 now. This means that there are 11,103 daily journeys conducted now, whereas in 2008 this figure stood at 15,857.

Last week the government announced that the price of a single ticket, which allows travel of up to one hour on all modes of public transport in the Greek capital, would increase from 1.20 euros to 1.40 from January 1.