General strike in Greece: The country is paralyzed - Protests in many cities

16 Μαρ 2023 10:05

Greece's private and public sector unions are demanding that liabilities be assigned to those responsible for the fatal Tempi train collision on February 28, and they also demand safety in the country's transportation overall.

Public transportation in Athens will come to a partial halt on Thursday, March 16, as a 24-hour nationwide strike has been called by the public sector workers union federation ADEDY and the private sector General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE).

Athens metro & tram

Metro lines 1 (ISAP), 2 (red line) and 3 (blue line) and tram trains will only run from 10:00 until 15:00, to facilitate the transportation of people attending rallies in central Athens.

Buses & trolleys

Buses will hold work stoppages from the start of the shift until 09:00 and from 21:00 until the end of the shift, the OASA staff union announced on Tuesday. They will run normally between 09:00 and 21:00, leaving their depots at 8:30 in the morning.

Trolley buses in Athens will run from 09:00 until 21:00 on Thursday, as announced the ILPAP-OSY Workers Union on Tuesday.

The bus routes operated by KTEL intercity coaches will run as normal.

Only 50 buses, operated by skeleton staff, will run in Thessaloniki on Thursday, while the Airport (N1) night line and the special service for the disabled will operate as normal, said the Urban Transport Organisation of Thessaloniki (OASTH).

Rail workers

Panhellenic Federation of Railway Workers will also participate in the strike, they said, although national railway services have been paused since March 1, following the Tempi rail accident.

Aegean Airlines, Olympic Air cancel all flights

Air carriers Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air cancelled all their domestic and international flights scheduled on Thursday (March 16), due to the participation of the Greek Air Traffic Controllers Association (GATCA) in ADEDY's 24-hour nationwide strike, they said on Tuesday.

Passengers can book alternative dates on www.aegeanair.com and www.olympicair.com, or call Aegean on 801-1120000 (from a landline), 210-6261000 (from a mobile phone), and Olympic Air on 801-801-0101 (from a landline) and 210-3550500 (from a mobile phone).

Ships to stay docked

Ships will stay docked in Greece from 01:01 am on Thursday, March 16, through 24:00 am on the same day, March 16, the Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) announced.