Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomed the first batch of China-made electric buses on Monday as they hit the streets of the port city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece.
“Their arrival signals the advent of a new Greece, which has left behind difficult times,” Mitsotakis said in a press statement after inspecting the bus fleet.
The first 46 electric buses manufactured by China’s Yutong started circulating in Athens on Saturday, while 17 such buses came into service in Thessaloniki on Monday.
Under a purchase agreement, a total of 250 electricity-powered buses will join the bus fleets in Athens and Thessaloniki by the end of June.
The electric buses, which are environmentally friendly and exceptionally quiet, are equipped with ramps for disabled passengers and charging ports for mobile phones, gradually replacing part of the existing aged fleet.