Greece’s KTEL Intercity Bus Services to Get Digital Upgrade

As part of an ongoing overhaul, Greece’s intercity bus service – known as KTEL – announced this week that 74 of its units will be eligible for funding to go towards the digital upgrade of information and ticketing services.

Budgeted at 24.2 million euros – 14.5 million euros of which will be covered by the state and the remainder by EU funds – the project is aimed at upgrading intercity bus transport services in 13 regions.

“The landscape in transport and citizen services is changing dramatically. The aim of the action is the modernization of urban and long-distance KTEL buses in the country’s 13 administrative districts,” said Stavros Asthenidis, CEO at Information Society SA.

“The services upgrade to the benefit of the citizen with emphasis on the quality and substantial improvement of the travel experience, especially of road transport services through urban and interurban transport, is a key element of the development model of the coming years,” said Asthenidis, adding that it will also create jobs.

The project will include digital networks covering ticketing services, route planning, passenger traffic response, and an integrated intercity traffic control center to collect data for the redesign or improvement of routes in order to meet the demand and needs of commuters.

It also includes enhanced real-time passenger information services on timetables, itineraries, and stops as well as the installation of “smart stops” in areas of high commuter concentration.