Specifically, from 07:30 to 13:30, there will be gradual and temporary traffic interruptions along the road sections in areas of the Municipalities of Athens, Filothei-Psychiko, Chalandri, Agia Paraskevi, Maroussi and Nea Filadelfeia - Chalkidona.

Ships remained docked at Greek ports and train services were halted as transport workers joined the nationwide strike by private sector union GSEE, Greece's largest. City transport was also disrupted as bus and taxi drivers halted operations for a few hours. Protesters marched to parliament around noon. Some of them held banners reading: "We don’t want breadcrumb increases, we want it all." Since a 2010-18 debt crisis when wages were slashed as part of austerity measures in turn for bailout funds, Greece's economy has been growing at nearly twice the euro zone rate and the country last year regained investment grade status after 13 years in the "junk" category. The monthly minimum gross wage was raised by 6.4% to 830 euros this month, the fourth such rise in five years. But many workers say the pay rises are not enough to keep up with high food prices and soaring rents and wages in Greece still lag behind those of their European colleagues. For younger Greeks, hit by a high unemployment rate, the high cost of living is an additional challenge. "Having such little prospects...and not being able to make ends meet is very hard," said 23-year old university student Elena Roza, one of the protesters. "The reflex reaction is to leave the country." And in a nod to France's overseas territories, surfing events will take place in Teahupoʻo, a village on the coast of Tahiti, an island in French Polynesia. The Greek average monthly salary of 1,175 euros is 20% lower than 15 years ago, while unemployment remains above 10%, the second highest in the European Union behind Spain. Youth unemployment is over 20%. The conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which won re-election last June, has promised to raise the monthly minimum wage to 950 euros by 2027, when its term ends, and increase the average wage by more than 25% to 1,500 euros in the same period. But GSEE says it wants an immediate increase to 908 euros and wants collective bargaining, which was abolished during the crisis, reinstated. "The high cost of living is a noose around the neck of workers and pensioners. Growth should not only be for a few," said GSEE's Secretary for Public Relations Dimitris Karageorgopoulos.  

The workers are demanding direct hiring and employment contracts and are taking part in the strike against "the wave of austerity and shameful profits that affect the decent lives of millions of low-wage earners and pensioners," as stated in an announcement by the Metro Workers' Union of Athens (SELMA), which calls its members to Klafthmonos Square at 11 a.m. Moreover, the labor union of the Athens Urban Transport Organisation (OASA) on Monday announced its decision to participate in the 24-hour general strike called by GSEE (General Confederation of Greek Workers) with the holding work stoppages on Wednesday. The public transport buses in Athens will operate between 09:00 and 21:00 on that day, with the union demanding public urban transport, collective labour contracts and the hiring of additional staff.  

On the occasion of the inaugural flight, representatives from the Municipality of Athens (This is Athens-CVB), executives from the Athens International Airport, as well as other key players in Athens' tourism market travelled to Shanghai to promote Greece as a top destination to major Chinese travel agents. At a related event held in Shanghai called “ Bridging Cultures in Travel: From Asia to Greece”, the This is Athens-CVB’s team presented the Greek capital to selected travel agents in China and held B2B meetings at the trade event that followed. The event, organized by Hellas Group and My Odyssey Travel, was held at the Hellas House. It is a 1930s building in the heart of Shanghai, that has evolved into a reference point for the cultural and business community of the Chinese city, hosting many important events. Among the passengers on the first flight from Shanghai to Athens were 4 journalists-influencers from China who were hosted in the Greek capital as guests of the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau (This is Athens-CVB) and the Athens International Airport. As part of the strategy to promote Athens to attract the Chinese market, Athens will take part for the first time in the large tourist exhibition “ ITB China” to be held in Shanghai in May by participating in the Greek National Tourism Organization's (GNTO) stand.  

The committee’s job will include submitting proposals, opinions, and legislative reforms on the topic and will be disbanded once it presents a summary of its conclusions to the Infrastructure and Transport minister. Infrastructure and Transport Secretary General, Ioannis Xifaras, has been appointed chairman of the committee. Members include Tourism Deputy Minister Elena Rapti and aviation officials and experts. The appointments are unpaid, the ministry said.

Based on the contract, the China-made buses will operate without passengers for 18 hours every day until they complete 5,000 km under daily traffic conditions. Infrastructure and Transport Minister Christos Staikouras boarded one of the buses on Syngrou Avenue for part of the first scheduled run in Athens. He was joined by Deputy Minister Nikos Tachiaos and OSY CEO Stefanos Agiasoglou. An OSY statement said one of the new buses caught the attention of grade school students who happened to be near a bus stop and boarded it. "The children's enthusiasm for the brand-new electric vehicle provides the greatest satisfaction about the implementation of the government's announcement related to upgrading the company's bus fleet," OSY noted. The 140 buses were delivered by manufacturer Yutong in Attica on March 4th, while another 110 were delivered in Thessaloniki on March 1st.

The debate will resume at 09:00 in the morning and a roll-call vote will start around 20:00-21:00. The 3-day debate on the censure motion in the parliament plenary will conclude with the speeches of the political party leaders and come to a close with the speech of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis tabled a four-party censure motion against the government on Tuesday afternoon. Speaking in parliament, he said: "We assumed this initiative to put a final end to anything offending against the rule of law and, consequently, the proud Greek people." The motion was tabled together with the main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, Nea Aristera and Plefsi Eleftherias parties. Moreover, the result of the vote is a foregone conclusion given the majority enjoyed in Parliament by ruling New Democracy. It will be preceded by the speeches of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the leaders of the opposition parties, which are expected to be particularly acrimonious given the first two days of the debate, marking the beginning of a long period of polarization until the European elections. Although the motion of no confidence concerned more than one issue, the speeches of most ministers, MPs and parliamentary representatives, as well as the interventions of some of the political leaders, focused on the fatal train crash in Tempe, central Greece in February 2023. Little time was devoted to the other issues, especially the “rule of law” aspect raised by the opposition. The co-signatories of the motion accuse the government of attempting to cover up responsibilities for the train crash, while the government has insisted that the judiciary will have the final say. What was clear in Wednesday’s debate was the government’s intention to rectify any mistakes made, as the statements by the ministers of foreign affairs and labor, George Gerapetritis and Domna Michailidou, suggested. “This government has the courage to check things, to do the necessary self-control, to look at the issues that arise with vigor, with courage and boldness, and, when necessary, with self-criticism,” Gerapetritis said.

The decision by its new owner, Cypriot businessman Andreas Christodoulides, who bought it along with another Onassis Olympic Airways-era plane, which is now in Lavrio, where it is being restored, is to showcase an era of modern Greek history. “These airplanes are historic for Greece and Hellenism, the Olympic airplanes should be remembered by the world and our children and our grandchildren,” he says. His goal was to buy them for the public to view and appreciate. A great admirer of Onassis, Christodoulides said he bought the planes so that the Greeks would not forget – “so that the world remembers Elliniko [Athens’ former airport), Olympic and Onassis.” “I feel proud of Greece… it is as if I have bought the Acropolis, and I am putting it somewhere for Hellenism to see.” Christodoulides has for the last 18 years been the owner of Zela Aviation, while about two years ago, when he returned to Greece from London after 38 years, he founded its subsidiary, Zela Jets.

In particular, delays are observed on Athens Avenue, from the height of Chaidari, as well as on the road section of the Athens-Corinth highway from Elefsina to Megara. On the contrary, the picture is much better on the Athens-Lamia highway where there is a constant flow. According to the data of Attica Traffic, from 6 am yesterday until 6 am today, 95,867 vehicles left Attica. In particular, 53,835 vehicles passed the toll road to Corinth and 42,041 to Lamia. Due to the increased traffic of excursionists, both the staff and the means of the Hellenic Police, mainly the Traffic Police Services, are on increased operational readiness, while increased measures have been taken throughout the country's road network, with the aim of the safe movement of citizens and the prevention of traffic accidents.

These are for during the period from March 15 to 18th, aiming at the safe movement of citizens and the prevention of traffic accidents. These measures include policing of roads and at the entrances and exits of major urban centers where there is heavy traffic, traffic regulations, and traffic management.

The new flight will operate daily except on Saturdays, leaving Athens at 16:00 local time and London/Heathrow at 19:00 local time. It will be available as of March 6 on booking systems and the new itinerary will begin on March 31, continuing throughout the year, including summer and winter seasons. Similarly, Aegean is increasing the frequency of flights to other major European cities, such as Frankfurt (5 daily flights to and from Athens, Thessaloniki, Iraklio), Larnaca (7 flights to/from Athens and 1 to/from Thessaloniki), Rome, Zurich, Geneva, Paris, Berlin, and the new destination of Dubai.

"Trains will resume operations with safety at the maximum possible level," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said weeks after the crash. One year on, however, crash experts and railway officials say little has been done to significantly improve train safety, despite mounting evidence that system deficiencies helped cause the accident. Remote train control and communication systems, mandatory under European Union law, are still not functioning, officials told Reuters. Railway staff numbers at the main rail operator have fallen since the crash, and those remaining await fresh training. A lack of reform to Greece's fragmented railway management has slowed progress, they said. The situation worries experts who say that Greece's rail network is prone to future accidents if safety is not improved. Meanwhile, grieving families and survivors demand answers. "We haven't learned our lesson and haven't acted," said Costas Lakafossis, an accident investigator commissioned by victims' relatives. "Unfortunately, the railway is not in a better state." The Greek transport ministry told Reuters it is implementing a comprehensive plan to revamp the railway and that there has been significant progress in upgrading railway safety, despite extensive damage caused by flooding in September. Panagiotis Terezakis, head of Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) which operates the rail network, says it is safe. The OSE had installed 300 infrared cameras in tunnels since the crash and had made progress on the installation of safety systems. He acknowledged, though, that more needs to be done. OSE has 640 employees, according to unions, fewer than 2023 and half the number in 2013. It plans to hire 90 people next month and up to 500 soon, Terezakis said, adding that the OSE employs 0.4 workers per km of rail, nearly half the EU average. "This is a railway system which for the past 15 years has been in decline. You cannot resurrect it within a year," he told Reuters, adding that red tape remained a big hurdle. "I have a degree in engineering. I am not God." SYSTEMS LACKING On Feb. 28, 2023, a passenger train packed with students collided head-on with a freight train just before midnight on a line linking Athens with Greece's second city Thessaloniki. The crash, the country's deadliest in history, triggered protests across Greece, where it was seen as the result of a wider neglect of public services following a decade-long financial crisis. The government promised reform. It commissioned an investigation, seen by Reuters, which found that the crash might have been averted if two key systems had been in place: ETCS, which can remotely control a train's speed and its brakes; and GSM-R, a wireless network allowing communication between station masters, train drivers and traffic controllers. GSM-R is still not activated on all trains, two OSE officials told Reuters. The ETCS has been installed across rail tracks, after a nine-year delay, but is not operational as it has not been added to trains pending certification, four OSE workers and officials told Reuters. An EU prosecutor has charged 18 Greek public officials for over multiple, illegal extensions to the project. Flooding later damaged telecom systems across a 90-km section on the same Athens-Thessaloniki route. The cost to restore it is estimated at 450 million euros by the government. "The situation remains largely the same, unfortunately," said Nikolaos Tsikalakis, head of the workers union at OSE. The EU Agency for Railways completed a safety assessment last year, whose draft findings were seen by Reuters. It said EU regulations were not implemented correctly in Greece, while underfunding and a complex system of overlapping agencies had slowed change. "There appears to be no entity in Greece taking on overall responsibility to ensure railway safety," the draft said. A planned merger of OSE and its subsidiaries will help address administration issues, the transport ministry said. HAUNTING Survivors and relatives are still haunted. Maria Karistianou, who lost her 20-year-old daughter in the disaster, says politicians must assume responsibility for a crash caused also by systemic deficiencies. So far, about 800,000 people have signed a petition to scrap laws protecting ministers from prosecution. "The state is still playing with our pain, our grieving and undermines the entire society," Karistianou told Reuters. Survivors said they were suffering from post-traumatic stress and struggling with haunting nightmares, according to five lawsuits against the state, seen by Reuters. A year later, they are still experiencing the same stress, their lawyers said. Crash survivor Stavroula Kapsali said everything has changed in her life - she cannot sleep and is constantly frightened. She has not been on trains since the crash, fearing they are not safe. "How can you not pay attention to systems providing passenger safety?" she said.  "I feel I left a piece of myself in there...The burden is huge."     (Photo: Relatives of the 57 victims of Greece’s deadliest train crash, react during a memorial service to mark a year from the crash, in Tempi, Greece, February 28, 2024. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis)