The number of new buses in Thessaloniki will rise to 426 by the autumn, out of a total of 520 buses in circulation, according to Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Con. Kyranakis. Briefing the parliamentary committee on Production and Trade on the supply of 50 18-meter modular electric urban vehicles, Mr. Kyranakis said that of the 240 buses that were circulating in Thessaloniki in 2019, more than 500 are now circulating. He also noted that at OASTH we will have 206 new buses in total, of which 160 will be electric, and respectively, at the private transport contractor, by September we will have 220, of which 100 will be electric. “In total, in Thessaloniki we will have 426 new buses, out of a total of 520 in circulation in September,” Kyranakis said.
According to the deputy minister, the cheapest offer came from the Chinese company Yutong, for 32,650,000 euros plus VAT, i.e. 653,000 euros plus VAT per vehicle. Also, the warranty for the vehicles is over 7 years, for batteries over 8 years and for the chargers for the electric buses at 145 months.
Asked by Al. Kazamia (Pleisi Eleftherias) about the prices secured by transport agencies in other European cities, Mr. Kyranakis said that they range from 600,000 euros to 1 million euros for 18-meter electric buses. “We, with a price of 650,000 euros, are at the lower end of that range,” the deputy minister said. As for the issue of charging, raised by Al. Meikopoulos (SYRIZA), Kyranakis said that the tender also provides for the installation of 25 chargers, at the same time as the vehicles arrive, and not later: This installation will be at the Stavroupolis depot in Thessaloniki, which will complement the existing charging network, he noted.
In his review of V. Metaxas (KKE) on the level of drivers’ wages and the need to increase the number of drivers, the deputy minister said the increase in the collective agreement at OSI (27 million euros) and the tax cut corresponds to 400 euros per employee, while active drivers (not those in offices) will have an additional 150 euros per month.
The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport even reiterated his commitment to “sort out” the situation with the 700 drivers who declare themselves sick and are in offices: “Those who cannot respond will leave the PSU. Those who falsely claimed to have a health problem or are found to be cured will return to the wheel. And those who have an objective problem but need to stay with the PSU will also be found a solution (controllers, guards, manoeuvres). This has been done. By the end of March, heavily by the first week of April, we will have zeroed out the medical exams of these 700. So, therefore, I will be able to give you exactly the numbers of drivers who have returned to the wheel.”
In his remarks, former Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Chr. Staikouras, said that the contract for the supply of 50 modern electric buses, 18 meters long, and the accompanying charging stations, is a follow-up to an international open tender with a budget of €46.5 million (including VAT), which was announced by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in April 2025. Also, that tender became possible following the amendment of the “Public Transport – Electrification” programme of the Recovery and Resilience Fund, by the relevant Ministries of Economy & Finance and Infrastructure & Transport. “This procurement is part of a broader, coherent governmental plan for the upgrading of transport in Thessaloniki, which has been unfolding, methodically, over the last seven years, by the successive governments of the New Democracy,” said Mr. Staikouras, pointing out – among others – the strengthening of OASΘ in human resources in 2024 and 2025, the inclusion of 110 electric buses in the fleet in June 2024, the Thessaloniki Metro, which is “fully operational” from December 2024, but also the progress in the construction of the elevated Flyover Avenue, which began in October 2023, has now reached 50% of its implementation and is expected to be completed by mid-2027.
