Filenews 25 September 2025 - by Vasos Vassiliou
On the instructions of the Minister of Transport, Mr. Alexis Vafeadis, a foreign expert is being called in order to find the end of the cause of fires in buses from the year 2020 onwards, while at the same time reports are being examined that the bus on which a fire broke out in Paphos, may have passed a MOT but was decommissioned for years.
However, the bus seems to have met the provisions of the student bus contracts, which, however, were discounted (for all companies) in terms of the age of the buses. As a result, while in ordinary urban transport companies are obliged to procure new buses, the age of "student buses" can reach up to 20 years.
The latest fire on a bus in Paphos, precisely because of the fact that it was going to pick up students, added another dimension to the whole issue which led to reports of a breach of contract by the Paphos city bus company, which, according to information, was fined for fire.
The fine was imposed not because of the use of a bus of a certain age to transport students, but because the Paphos urban transport company OSYPA did not procure new buses, as provided for in the contract it signed with the state.
The Minister of Transport, before whom we presented relevant information, initially stated that especially for students there is a special sensitivity, without meaning that the same does not apply to other users. "The whole issue troubled me and that is why I instructed the Department of Road Transport to invite a foreign expert in order to check all the cases in which a fire broke out in buses from the year 2020 onwards," said Mr. Vafeadis, who added: "The purpose is to determine whether each case of fire on a bus had its own special characteristics or whether they had a common point, in order to form a complete picture and determine further actions in terms of security controls".
Regarding the reports of a violation of the contract by OSYPA, Mr. Vafeadis stated that when the contract was signed, the company was obliged to procure new buses for the needs of the contract within a year. He did not respond, so a fine began to be imposed, as provided for in the contract, he said.
"As far as I am informed, the company seems to be making efforts to buy new buses and is close to an agreement," he added.
However, public bodies say the company reached an agreement with a Chinese company with the prospect of procuring the buses within 2026. In fact, the company is said to have secured a relevant loan which will allow it to complete the procurement process of about 50 buses.
The minister said that he does not know exactly where the whole issue is, to add that until the company procures the new buses, the ministry will continue to impose the prescribed penalty.
To the question, "why were the companies allowed to use older buses for the school routes", the minister stated that the state, after signing the contracts (around 2022) for the urban routes, assigned to the contractors (the urban transport companies) the service of executing the school routes.
However, in this case, some provisions that were in force in the contracts for urban transport were different. For example, while in "normal" urban transport the age of buses should not exceed five years, in the student service they should not be older than 20 years.
The bus on which a fire broke out in Paphos falls into this category, the Minister of Transport said. Answering a relevant question, Mr. Vafeadis stated that indeed the specific bus belonged to another company which rented it to OSYPA.
The bus went through a private MOT, went through a visual inspection by public supervisors and its regular inspection was also pending by a state workshop, the minister said.
Based on these data, the bus in which a fire broke out was legally used to transport students and what is being examined by the directorate of passenger transport is whether the same bus was used not only for the transport of students but also for ordinary urban transport, said Mr. Vafeadis. In the event that it is found that it was used, then the company will be penalized, he said.
Asked "how easy it is to determine whether the bus was also used in urban transport", the Minister of Transport said that because the GPS system works on the buses, there is a possibility to check its routes.
When asked "where does a company find the money to pay significant funds in financial penalties", he replied that what is happening is that fines are deducted from the state sponsorships to which companies are entitled.
