Public transport in crisis, Alternate Minister for Transport says
Alternate Minister for Transport Christos Spirtzis on Saturday painted a grim picture of the state of Greece's public transport services after five years of underfunding and understaffing due to the economic crisis, speaking to the ANA-MPA.
"The effort of previous governments to downgrade crucial areas of the public sector, such as public transport and the civil aviation authority, have clear aims," Spirtzis said, adding that the shortage of staff in the most crucial areas of each public service was "no accident," especially when millions had been squandered on reports by "experts".
He promised that the government will work together with the staff in order to halt the decline, in spite of the financial problems, for a "vital and effective public administration, public agencies that serve society and the citizen and reliable public transport..."
Public transport workers, on their part, reported problems caused by an ageing fleet and poor maintenance, noting that even essential spare parts could not be paid for.
Indicatively, according to an ANA-MPA report, there were currently 2,505 buses in the Athens public transport fleet while some 800 were languishing unused in the depots because there were no spare parts to repair them - not even new tyres.
According to the head of the OASA Technicians and Employees Union Apostolos Raftopoulos, at least 400 of these buses could go back to work the next day if they were fitted with new tyres. Maintenance was seriously hampered by a lack of funds, since suppliers couldn't be paid, but also a lack of staff after several mechanics had gone into retirement.
They also warned that much of the elderly fleet of buses would have to be withdrawn in the near future, with no money for replacements.
Similar problems are also reported in the public rail systems, such as the metro and tram.
