Yesterday, July 10, 2024, the draft tender notice for the tender procedure for the renewal of the bus fleet in Athens and Thessaloniki, with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport as the contracting authority and the final beneficiaries being the urban transport organizations in the two metropolitan areas, entered into a public consultation process.

The tender is part of the relevant medium-term plan of the Ministry, in cooperation with the European Community and stakeholders.

It concerns 700 vehicles with the pre-selection of contractors for short- and rapid-charging electric buses, as well as trolleybuses with modern drive technology.

It will be tendered in the form of a framework agreement with an open procedure through the EES, which was assessed after a thorough analysis as the most appropriate to achieve the best result.

All proposals and comments submitted as part of the public consultation process will be assessed by the Ministry's Passenger Transport Directorate.

The public consultation is a non-binding participation of potentially interested economic operators with the aim of gathering constructive comments and observations on the technical specifications and the indicative budget.

The duration of the public consultation is set at twenty-five (25) days from its posting on the website of the E.S.E.D.S., i.e., until August 4, 2024.

On the occasion of the launch of the public consultation, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras said: "With this tender procedure, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport seeks to procure a large number of new vehicles, capable of making a decisive contribution to the further renewal of the aging fleet of the Urban Transport Organizations in Athens and Thessaloniki. Our aim is to constantly improve the services provided to the public, to ensure accessibility to public transport, and to reduce air pollution from the transport work carried out by road transport. We are proceeding in a coordinated and consistent manner with all the necessary actions to achieve this.".