(MENAFN) Bahraini Ahmed Mansour Al Aali (AMA) announced a concession agreement with British National Express for a joint venture on the new public bus operator being planned by the Bahraini Transportation Ministry, Gulf Daily News reported.
The Transportation Ministry said that it awarded National Express the deal due to its prominent position as a bus operator in the UK, with worldwide specialized experience in bus operations.
This contract, which marks the first Middle Eastern market National Express has entered, comes as a result to their recent German rail success.
The ministry said it is seeking to have in place a comprehensive bus network system that will provide residents and citizens alike with the level of service and coverage they require by placing a network which expands to cover as many areas as possible in the kingdom.
Under the agreement, National Express and AMA will provide the buses and related equipment, and operate the entire network, including upgrading related facilities, as well as increasing the existing bus fleet in operation from 35 buses to 140 buses, which will be the owned by the ministry, while National Express will operate them.
Meanwhile, network coverage is expected to increase to around 77 percent, thereby allowing more residents and citizens with access to the transportation system and it is expected that the new bus operations will start in February next year.
The new network of buses will be assigned to 26 different main routes covering all the major areas in Bahrain, which will be in accordance with the public transportation routes schedule set by the ministry, as well as an additional dedicated service for transporting passengers to and from the airport equipped with the facilities travelers would need.
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