Athens is the 4th most populous capital city in the European Union, given its population of over 4 million people. This Greece capital has extensive and inexpensive modern mass public transit system to not only serve the needs of its residents, but also visitors. This article narrows down to providing the basis of Public Transportation in Athens, Greece though it does not contain pricing, this is because of the variations in prices.
Once in Athens, you can get around by the integrated public transport network, this includes Buses and Electric trolley-buses, Athens Metro, Athens Tram and Athens Suburban Railway.
1. Buses
There are modern and air conditioned Express buses operating between the airport and and the city centre, KTEL and Piraeus bus terminals. This includes:
Bus X92- This operates from the airport to the suburb of Kifisia, which is about 55 minutes travel, and departs on intervals of 45 minutes to 1 hour on daily basis.
Bus X93- This operates from the airport to Terminal B (Kifisos), which is about 35 minutes travel, and departs every 30 minutes the whole day.
Bus X94- This operates from the airport to Ethniki Amyna metro station, which is about 25 minutes travel, and departs every 10 minutes on daily basis, between 7.30am and 11.30pm
Bus X95- This operates from the airport to Syntagma, which is about an hour travel, and departs every 30 minutes on daily basis.
Bus X96- This operates from the airport to Plateia Karaiskaki, in Piraeus. It is operational 24 hours on intervals of 20 minutes.
Bus X97- This operates from the airport to Dafni metro station, which is about 25 minutes travel, and departs every 30 minutes the whole day.
Additionally, the blue and white local express trolleybus and the other regular buses do operate at intervals of 15 minutes from 5am until midnight.
2. Athens Metro
Travel around central Athens has been gradually transformed with the expanding metro. This has really eased public transit in Athens because journeys that used to take more than one hour initially, are now a matter of minutes. The Athens Metro has three lines. It is worth noting that all stations are fitted with elevators to provide the disabled full access. The Athens Metro lines include Line 1 (green line) which is from Kifisia to Piraeus. Then there is Line 2 (red line) which connects Anthoupoli and Eliniko. Lastly, there is the Line 3 (blue line) and connects the Airport with Douk. It also provides accessibility between Plakentias and Aghia Marina. All trains operate on daily basis from 5.30am all through to half past midnight, with an exception of Friday and Saturday nights where both lines 2 and 3 are kept open until 2.30am.
3. Athens Tram
The Athens Tram connects the city center with the southern seaside. This also has three lines and includes Line 1 (Syntagma-SEF) and it links the Athens downtown with Peace and Friendship Stadium. On the same note, there is Line 2 (Syntagma-Voula) and this one runs through the city center to the southern suburb. Lastly on the lies is Line 3 (Voula-SEF) and this one runs along the coastal zone. Notably, their operating hours are 5.30am all through to 1.00am on daily basis with an exception of Fridays and Saturdays nights where the lines are open until 2.30am.
4. Suburban Railway
The Suburban Railway is a part to the national railway network. Hence, it has its main route as Athens Airport to Kiato. Alternatively, there are other routes that travel up to Ano Liosia. This operates on a 24 hour basis.
Finally, the above modes of public transport leaves visitors and residents with a wide choice of options. All the above modes compete to offer transport services efficiently. Th tram is relatively fascinating because it passes some good shops, markets and the beach among other things. Athens is arguably one of the amazing cities in the world.