Greece today: which trains the strike cancels, the last fine-free day for activity codes, ΟΠΕΚΑ pays, and farm-aid applications now run to 10 November

Friday's strike: which trains are cancelled, and what else runs?

Hellenic Train has cancelled a list of trains on Friday 30 October 2026, not the whole network, and warns that more cancellations may follow.¹ΕΛ Several Greek outlets reported that no trains or suburban services run at all; the company's notice does not say that.^78918191

How it came to this. ΠΕΠΕ (Πανελλήνια Ένωση Προσωπικού Έλξης, Panellinia Enosi Prosopikou Elxis), the train drivers' union, called a 24-hour strike for 30 October 2026, and Hellenic Train took it to court.¹² The Μονομελές Πρωτοδικείο Πειραιά (Monomeles Protodikeio Peiraia), the Single-Member Court of First Instance of Piraeus, ruled the strike unlawful, on grounds that concern the legal procedure for designating staff and the reasons given for the strike.¹³ ΠΟΣ (Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Σιδηροδρομικών, Panellinia Omospondia Sidirodromikon), the railway workers' federation, then called a new 24-hour strike for the same day.¹² Hellenic Train says ΠΟΣ called it without the procedures and deadlines the law requires, and Efsyn and iefimerida report the company calling it an attempt to get round the court ruling.¹²¹⁸

What is cancelled. These are the cancellations in Hellenic Train's notice of 29 October 2026, which Οδηγός του Πολίτη (Odigos tou Politi) also lists in full:¹⁴

• Intercity: Athens–Thessaloniki–Athens 56 and 51, and Athens–Lianokladi–Athens 520 and 521.¹⁴
• Suburban (Proastiakos), Piraeus–Kiato: 1306, 1308, 1310 and 1305, 1307, 1311 between 07:00 and 11:00; 1328, 2300, 2302 and 1327, 2301, 2303 between 18:00 and 22:00.¹⁴
• Suburban, Athens–Chalkida: 1538, 3536, 1535, 3537 in the morning window; 1556, 2530, 3555, 1559 in the evening window.¹⁴
• Suburban, Piraeus–Airport: 1204, 1210, 1212 and 1207, 1209 in the morning window; 1228, 1230, 1232, 1234 and 1233, 1235 in the evening window.¹⁴
• Regional lines with cancellations: Thessaloniki–Sindos, Thessaloniki–Larissa, Thessaloniki–Serres, Alexandroupoli–Orminio, Agios Andreas–Rio, Agios Andreas–Kaminia and Kiato–Aigio.¹⁴⁵

ALT reports that Hellenic Train's other staff hold four-hour stoppages from 07:00 to 11:00 and from 18:00 to 22:00 alongside the strike; by our reading, these are the same windows as the suburban cancellations.⁶¹

The drivers' side. The drivers say that for 17 months Hellenic Train's management "has refused any substantive dialogue" and that "safety is not a cost", Efsyn reports (our translation).²³ Their demands cover traffic safety, the state of trains and facilities, staff shortages, driver training and working and rest hours, and they cite "20 resignations of new drivers".¹⁷⁵⁸

Ferries. Ferries stay tied up for 24 hours in Piraeus, Rafina, Lavrio, Patras, Igoumenitsa, Elefsina and Rio–Antirrio because of the strike by the seafarers' unions ΠΕΜΕΝ, ΣΤΕΦΕΝΣΩΝ and ΠΕΝΕΝ.¹⁰¹¹¹⁷ Golden Star Ferries' 07:50 sailing of ANDROS QUEEN from Rafina to Andros, Tinos, Mykonos and back will not run on Friday 30 October 2026.¹⁴¹⁵ Naxos Times reports that Seajets' CHAMPION JET 2 and CHAMPION JET 3 will not sail, and that SUPERSTAR will not leave Rafina at 16:30 and leaves Mykonos at 13:00; we could not check Seajets' own notice.¹⁶ Our 29 October brief has the other companies' timetables.

Metro, tram and buses. Ethnos reports that the Athens metro runs normally on Friday 30 October 2026.⁹ We found no strike notice for the tram or buses; Ethnos's report mentions only the metro.⁹

Stoppages and rallies. ΑΔΕΔΥ (Ανώτατη Διοίκηση Ενώσεων Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων, Anotati Dioikisi Enoseon Dimosion Ypallilon), the civil servants' confederation, holds a stoppage from 08:00 to 12:00 in Attica, with a rally at 10:00 in Piraeus, and in Achaia, with a rally at 10:00 at Patras port; in Thesprotia the stoppage runs from 11:00 to the end of the shift, with a rally at 11:30.¹³ ΟΜΥΛΕ, the federation of permanent port employees, stops work from 10:00 to 13:00.¹¹¹⁷ Rallies are called for Piraeus at 10:00 in Dimotiko Theatro square, Patras at 10:00 at the port, Igoumenitsa at 11:30 at the outer port gate and Thessaloniki at 19:30 at the Venizelos statue.¹¹¹²¹³ The action is part of an international day of action by dockers in more than 100 ports.¹²¹³

Activity codes: today is the last fine-free day, and no extension has been announced

Friday 30 October 2026 is the last day to correct, without a fine, the ΚΑΔ (Κωδικός Αριθμός Δραστηριότητας, Kodikos Arithmos Drastiriotitas) activity codes that ΑΑΔΕ (Ανεξάρτητη Αρχή Δημοσίων Εσόδων, Anexartiti Archi Dimosion Esodon), the tax authority, switched automatically to the 2025 list.²²²¹ ΟΕΕ (Οικονομικό Επιμελητήριο Ελλάδος, Oikonomiko Epimelitirio Ellados), the Economic Chamber of Greece, the accountants' and economists' professional body, asked ΑΑΔΕ and the finance ministry in a letter of 29 October 2026 to move the deadline to 31 December 2026, citing technical problems, system issues and ambiguities in the names of the new codes.²⁰²¹²² We found no ΑΑΔΕ reply or extension by the morning of 30 October 2026.²¹ Our 29 October brief explains who should check and how to fix a code.

ΟΠΕΚΑ pays October benefits today: €187.7m to 587,789 people

ΟΠΕΚΑ (Οργανισμός Προνοιακών Επιδομάτων και Κοινωνικής Αλληλεγγύης, Organismos Pronoiakon Epidomaton kai Koinonikis Allilengyis), the welfare-benefits agency, pays October 2026 benefits today, Friday 30 October 2026: €187,722,460.23 to 587,789 beneficiaries, according to its release of 29 October.³⁰ Disability benefits are the largest item, €100,345,698.95 to 214,974 beneficiaries.³⁰ The release has no child-benefit (Α21) line.³⁰ Our ΟΠΕΚΑ payment dates guide has the full breakdown.

Farm aid: the 2026 application now closes on 10 November

ΑΑΔΕ has moved the final deadline for the 2026 Ενιαία Αίτηση Ενίσχυσης (ΕΑΕ, Eniaia Aitisi Enischysis), the single aid application still often called ΟΣΔΕ, to Tuesday 10 November 2026, according to its release of 30 October as reproduced by Taxheaven.²³ΕΛ²⁴ ΑΑΔΕ says 10 November 2026 is the latest date that still allows the advance on farm aid to be paid on time on 30 November 2026.²³²⁴ Our 14 October brief covered the previous extension.

The release also simplifies how land is declared. In areas where the Κτηματολόγιο (Ktimatologio), the Hellenic Cadastre, operates, farmers may declare only a property's ΑΤΑΚ, its tax property number, instead of its ΚΑΕΚ, its cadastral code, for properties of up to 10 stremmata (1 hectare) as shown in the 2027 property statement (Ε9).²³ΕΛ²⁴ The route covers owned and leased land, and the 10-stremma limit applies to the whole property, whatever the co-ownership share.²³²⁴ Where the ΑΤΑΚ area is smaller than the ΚΑΕΚ area, ΑΑΔΕ itself will bring the area in the Ε9 into line with the ΚΑΕΚ within the first half of January 2027, unless the farmer has filed an amended Ε9 by then.²³²⁴ ΑΑΔΕ says the new function will be live in the application by Monday 2 November 2026.²³²⁴

Renovation grant open for vacant homes; Spiti mou III planned for the end of December

Funding applications for the «Ανακαίνιση Κατοικίας» (Anakainisi Katoikias) home-renovation grant opened on Thursday 29 October 2026, for vacant homes only, and run until Monday 11 January 2027.³¹³² Only owners who already hold an eligibility certificate (Βεβαίωση Επιλεξιμότητας, Vevaiosi Epileximotitas) for that home can file, on the platform of ΤΕΕ (Τεχνικό Επιμελητήριο Ελλάδας, Techniko Epimelitirio Elladas), the Technical Chamber of Greece, at anakainisi.tee.gov.gr.³¹³² Lived-in homes will follow under a later call.³¹³² Our renovation grant guide covers the documents and the conditions.

On the same day, Social Cohesion and Family Minister Δόμνα Μιχαηλίδου (Domna Michailidou) said the government "plans to open" the Spiti mou III first-home loan scheme at the end of December (our translation).³³ She gave no terms and did not say whether that means applications at banks.³³ "We plan" is a plan, not a fixed date.³³ Our Spiti mou III explainer sets out what is official.

December pensions: a reported proposal for 25 and 27 November, not yet official

The board of e-ΕΦΚΑ (Ηλεκτρονικός Εθνικός Φορέας Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, Ilektronikos Ethnikos Foreas Koinonikis Asfalisis), the national social-security fund, has proposed paying December 2026 pensions on Wednesday 25 and Friday 27 November 2026, KefaloniaPress and Powergame report.³⁴³⁵ In the proposal they describe, the former non-salaried funds (ΟΑΕΕ, ΟΓΑ, ΕΤΑΑ), pensions awarded through ΟΠΣ-ΕΦΚΑ and all private-sector supplementary pensions come first, and the former salaried funds and public-sector pensions second.³⁴³⁵ e-ΕΦΚΑ had published no announcement on December dates when we checked its press releases on 30 October 2026.³⁶ Our pension payment dates guide will add the dates once e-ΕΦΚΑ confirms them.

Booking.com: rapporteur backs its commitments; the Commission meets on 28 December 2026

The rapporteur of the Επιτροπή Ανταγωνισμού (Epitropi Antagonismou), the Hellenic Competition Commission, recommends accepting the commitments Booking.com offered in a case of alleged abuse of a dominant position, the Commission said on 29 October 2026.³⁷ The recommendation is not binding, and the Commission will meet on 28 December 2026 to examine the case and the commitments; it has given no date for its decision.³⁷ Booking has not been fined.³⁷ Our explainer sets out what the commitments would change for hotels.

Business register: 964,851 active firms in 2024, six in ten with no paid staff

Greece had 964,851 active businesses in 2024, according to ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Elliniki Statistiki Archi), the statistics authority, as reported by ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ (Αθηναϊκό-Μακεδονικό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων, Athinaiko-Makedoniko Praktoreio Eidiseon), the state news agency.²⁵²⁷ That is up from 932,549 in 2023, a rise of 32,302, or 3.5% by our calculation.²⁶ Of the 964,851, 598,707 had no salaried employees, which is 62.1% by our calculation; the owner may still work in the business.²⁵²⁷ There were 88,028 business births and 37,391 deaths in 2024, and 3,632,302 people worked in active businesses.²⁵ Wholesale and retail trade was the largest sector, with 220,379 businesses.²⁶²⁷

Also today: Moody's on Greek banks

Moody's considers "manageable" the four risks that the Bank of Greece (Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος, Trapeza tis Ellados) flagged for Greek banks on 22 October 2026, among them €1.7bn of loans that turned bad in the first half of 2026 and deferred tax credits worth 36% of core (CET1) capital, Capital and Fortune report (our translation).²⁸²⁹ Our 23 October brief covered the Bank of Greece's review.