The challenges for the new Minister of Infrastructure and Transport

The first week after the national election is succeeded by expectations and challenges regarding the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

The successor of Mr. Christos Spirtzis, Mr. Kostas Karamanlis, has a long list of issues in his hands that require either an immediate solution or swift responses.

The first, concerns the realization of new generation projects and, in particular, the boost of large-scale infrastructure projects such as Athens Metro Line 4, Patras-Pyrgos Motorway, as well as the launch of others such as Elefsina-Yliki Motorway, which is also the flagship project proclade by the ruling party, New Democracy, in its governmental plan.

Moreover, the blockage of many projects at the Council of State is yet another problem inherited by previous administrations to the new Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Mr. Karamanlis.

There are also tendering issues associated with the use of L.4412/2016 which, even though was originally introduced to improve the situation, it eventually became more complicated than before, as well as problems related to big discounts, challenges regarding the utilization of new and more efficient financial tools, etc.

In the field of Transport, things have another dimension. In urban transport for Athens and Thessaloniki, there is a need to address the current situation, which in addition to the passenger traffic increase (especially in Athens) due to the electronic ticketing system, there is also an urgent need for the procurement of new buses for both cities that will partially replace the old, outdated fleets.

In the field of road transport, a major issue remains the influx of trucks with foreign plates that “steal” a significant part of the “cake” in the domestic market, resulting to a stagnation of the Greek truck fleet, which is one of the most obsolete in Europe.