On February 26, the inhabitants of Evosmos in the city of Thessaloniki they faced an unusual sight: bus engulfed in flames until burned to the ground. It was the bus. KTEL along which the public transport route passed. As a result of the incident, presumably due to a short circuit, no one was injured. But this is not the first time this has happened.

Since the end of 2020, when KTEL also took over the transport work, this has manifested itself set fire to three more buses with incidents recorded in June 2022, April 2022 and July 2021. In the last 20 days alone, in addition to the burning bus, other two cases of damageincluding one a bus whose rear wheel “flew off”.. The latest incident took place a few days after the Tempe accident.

Upset by the events that followed, Mr. Transport organization of Thessaloniki yesterday he sent his third letter to KTEL to get information about the condition of the buses. “Before the tragedy happened in Tempi, we sent a letter to KTEL, which runs a transport project in the suburban area of ​​Thessaloniki, for full control in terms of maintenance, technical checks, as well as compliance with protocols in case of such incidents. We have received enough data from the KTEL involved, which are being evaluated to get the best results even in the face of possible sanctions,” K said. Yannis ToskasOSETH CEO.

He even seems ready to comply and independent emergency checks “on the route of vehicles with the involvement of special technical consultants on the condition of buses.” The managing director of the organization clarifies that the transportation is carried out with safe and reliable way adding that although they constitute sporadic eventshire an organization.

“When you have 200 buses, some will have problems,” he stressed. Stefanos Tsolis, President of KTEL Thessaloniki.

Maintenance without special conditions

In the agreement between OSETH and KTEL there are no specific deadlines for car maintenance procedures. According to the managing director of OSETH, KTEL strives to ensure that the buses they provide for transport lines are fit for traffic and have the appropriate characteristics.

The President of KTEL Thessaloniki specifies that the buses must pass and pass KTEL every year on the dates indicated, and in cases where a problem is foreseen, they are sent to the depot, to a workshop maintained by KTEL, and repaired. “CTEA is not private, it is public and everything is under control”– said Mr. Tsolis.

“Old but reliable fleet”

According to information available to “K” for the period from 2019 to 2022, transport work is carried out by 100 KTEL Thessaloniki buses, and this year 22 more have been added. Their average age is 12 years. Respectively, the average age of 57 KTEL Kilkis, Halkidiki and Serres buses is approximately 17 years old.. It is noted that the age limit for KTEL buses serving the suburbs of Thessaloniki is 27 years, while the corresponding age for OASTH city buses is lower at 23 years.

“Of course there are buses that are 18 years old, but OASTH also has buses that are even 20 years old. It’s just that OASTH, which organized the stations and know-how, is one thing, and KTEL is another,” Mr. Toskas emphasized.

However, bus users also complain about OASTH city buses, complaining that they often cause breakdowns that cause the bus to stop, as well as poor conditions inside the vehicle. “There are buses that run like a rattle. Do you think they will fall apart on the road”characteristically mentions “K”, a student who uses the media every day.

“THAT the fleet is getting old but I can say with all confidence, knowing the seriousness of my words, that buses are safe and completely reliable. We have highly qualified teams that service the buses and bring them to good condition. It cannot be that the problem has been identified and not resolved, ”he emphasized in an interview with K. Kostas Tangiris, President and CEO of OASTH. According to him, the workshops have accumulated many years of experience and have the necessary equipment.

Lack of drivers and technical staff

KTEL Thessaloniki operates 39 transport routes under a contract that runs until the end of the year, trying to serve the public of a city that has gone through fire and iron in recent years due to shortcomings in the city’s bus network.

More than 300 OASTH buses remain decommissioned at the organization’s depot due to breakdowns. “Today, OASTH is due to withdraw 368 buses and is forcibly pulling 280 buses off the road due to lack of drivers. Technicians will be recruited from 2008 and drivers from 2011,” says Yannis Dimkas, president of OASTH workers. If there were enough technical staff, more buses would be put into service. In their document, OSETH specifically mentions that pFor the year, from 2021 to 2022, critical personnel decreased by 16.3%, i.e. from 1148 to 960 people..

Insufficient number of workers and buses leads to crowding within the city during peak hours. “When there should be 80 people on the bus, and there are 110 passengers in it, and instead of 10 people wait at the bus stop for 25-30 minutes, this irritation is expressed in the driver. The mental pressure is much greater than if everything was working normally,” notes Mr. Dimkas, adding that exceeding the passenger limit also affects the safety of the transport project. “You can’t count people. People get in and out at every stop. You can’t count. But even when you realize that there are more of them, what do we say to a person who has been waiting at the bus stop for half an hour? Are you not going upstairs?

“Overcrowding is something we want to avoid. Efforts do not stop,” says Yannis Toskas, Managing Director of the Transport Project Organization in Thessaloniki.

OASTH is now looking forward to arrival of 130 new electric buses which are expected to be added to the Thessaloniki fleet. At the same time, an international tender for about 40 commuter lines which is now operated by KTEL, which will be announced next quarter.