‘Unannounced’ strike by railway employees leaves passengers stranded

Commuters in Athens were stranded on train platforms on Tuesday morning as railway operator Trainose unexpectedly announced that the Athens suburban railway (Proastiakos) and intercity trains will not be operating due to an “sudden, unannounced” strike of railway employees at the main train depot in Athens.

Trainose had announced it would not participate in the 24-hour strike called by Greece's umbrella civil servants' union ADEDY against the government's social insurance bill, and therefore services would not be affected.

Speaking to radio station Skai on Tuesday morning, Trainose CEO Filipos Tsalidis said that drivers were waiting to depart when railway employees took over the platform in the Rendi train station, where all trains depart from.

Commenting on the move, he said the company would do “what it must” during the day, without elaborating further.

The announced participation of Athens buses, trolleys, metro and tram employees to the strike forced traffic police to announce that it would lift the restrictions on vehicles entering downtown Athens for the day to help Athenians commute to work.