What did he say about the replacement of the trolleys
A few hours before the Official operation of the new Patras – Pyrgos Motorwaythe Deputy Minister of Transport, Konstantinos Kyranakis, It was placed on a series of issues related to infrastructure and public transport, stressing that this summer is’Last summer in MMMs without air conditioning».
Speaking to SKAI, he referred both to the progress of the transport project and the image of transport during the last days of extreme temperatures. At the same time, it gave the mark on the new highway, the debate to the House about the ND letter vote, the OPECEPE scandal, and the forthcoming 24 -hour subway operation every Saturday, which is expected to begin on September 13th.
“Last summer in MMMs without air conditioning”
Referring to the problems that arose due to heat, the Deputy Minister stressed that, although much newer wagons in ISAP have air conditioning, he does not always perform, as “The world opens the windows, as trains do not move underground” At the same time, he noted that ‘In the metro in line 2 and 3 of the 52 trains in operation, 32 have air conditioning».
He himself underlined:
“I personally commit that this is the last summer we are experiencing. First of all, it is advisable to ask for the reason for those who ordered a subway without air conditioning. Because these were not ordered in the 4 months that I am in the ministry. Were ordered a few decades ago. So in Greece, someone had the bright idea of ordering many millions of trains without air conditioning. It is advisable to ask for the reason and from them, at some point – we will go to train renovation measures. That is, some trains will come out of the network – this can affect the frequency, I want to be clean. When you make a decision and say “I’ll get a train to renovate it”, why you have to make a decision and say “you need air conditioning? Yes, it needs”. I have to get it out of operation, renovate it, change its mechanics and put it back on it. So this will happen. In ISAP we have trains since 1980. “
The end of trolleys and their replacement
Mr Kiranakis also talked about the future of the trolleyballs, making it clear that the planning for the purchase of new vehicles was canceled, as existing network with cables and posts requires expensive upgrade. As he said, after analyzing and taking into account the situation, it was decided to gradually end the trolleys in two phases:
Removal of cables and posts in Athens and Piraeus, except for key central streets such as Syngrou, where the routes will be strengthened,
Supply of electric buses, which will fully replace the trolleys.
As he pointed out, trolley workers “will be absorbed on the buses”.