Athens launches Saturday 24-hour public transport

Metro, tram, and autobus services successful the greater Athens country began, connected Saturday, operating circular the timepiece connected a weekly basis, offering passengers, particularly young people, a safer way location aft their Saturday nights out.

More than 55,000 tickets were validated during the archetypal nighttime of the expanded service.

Deputy Transport Minister Konstantinos Kyranakis told state broadcaster ERT that the caller work is expected to prevention lives by reducing the risks associated with late-night travel. “From today and each Saturday some lives connected Greek roads will beryllium saved, precisely due to the fact that the workers are putting successful tremendous effort to guarantee 24-hour metro, bus, and tram services,” helium said.

Kyranakis stressed the inaugural was designed with young radical and their families successful mind, noting that parents would worry little knowing their children had a reliable, harmless way to instrumentality location aft a nighttime out.

Athens Urban Rail Transport Company (STASY) Managing Director Thanassis Kottaras said there was “great satisfaction” astatine the launch, not lone due to the fact that it marked the first-ever 24-hour Saturday metro operation, but besides due to the fact that thousands of passengers instantly embraced the extended work crossed the metro, tram, and autobus routes.

This story has been updated.