Thessaloniki metro has trial run as new buses arrive
The Thessaloniki metro underwent its first trial run with passengers on Wednesday, with a train leaving the Pylaia depot and traveling several hundred meters.
The first passengers on the trial run included Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kostas A. Karamanlis, as well as Attiko Metro President Nikos Tachiaos. Trial runs will continue over the next few months and are to be extended across the whole metro network in the fall of 2021, Tachiaos said. The much-delayed project is expected to start operating in the spring of 2023.
During his visit, Karamanlis also took delivery of the first consignment of 18 out of a total of 230 new buses.
Of the new buses, 14 have been leased by the ministry and four were purchased from the Municipality of Leipzig, which is twinned with Thessaloniki. The aim is for a total of 550 buses to be serving the city of Thessaloniki by the end of the year, Karamanlis said.
