Greek riot police on Friday stormed the main depot of the Athens Metro, which had been occupied by workers on strike for a ninth straight day to protest planned salary cuts.
Police implemented an emergency order issued by the government to end the strike. The order allows the government to arrest or fire workers who refuse to return to work.
Police broke through the gates of the depot and cleared the workers. No violence was reported.
Government officials have distributed notifications to all metro workers asking them to return to work. Ignoring the order to can lead to arrest and jail terms of between three months to five years.
Speaking on Greek state television NET, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said he expected the metro to be operational at the weekend.
Radio reports said approximately 50 metro workers had returned to work on Friday, far less than the number needed to put the transport system back into operation.
The strike has caused massive traffic jams throughout Athens and hampered access to airports.
In a show of solidarity, workers with the city's electric railway, trams, buses and trolley service on Thursday declared a strike.
Metro workers said they were protesting a unified pay structure the government is planning for civil servants, which would result in the abolition of their collective labour agreement.
The government aims to reduce transport workers salaries from 97.7 million euros (131 million dollars) in 2012 to 74.6 million euros this year.
Average gross wages without overtime on the metro will fall from about 2,500 euros to 2,038 euros.
The government passed a new round of austerity measures in December to ensure it continues receiving bailout funds.