RATP Dev and SAPTCO win contract to operate the future Riyadh bus network

RATP Group subsidiary RATP Dev and Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) have won a twelve-year US$2.1 billion contract to implement, operate and maintain the future bus network in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The network’s 103 lines will gradually enter service after two years of preparation starting from the launch of the contract. The network will be run using a fleet of approximately 1,000 vehicles and will include four BHLS (Buses with High Level of Service) lines, two circular lines, 17
November 20, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
4223 RATP Group subsidiary RATP Dev and Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) have won a twelve-year US$2.1 billion contract to implement, operate and maintain the future bus network in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The network’s 103 lines will gradually enter service after two years of preparation starting from the launch of the contract.

The network will be run using a fleet of approximately 1,000 vehicles and will include four BHLS (Buses with High Level of Service) lines, two circular lines, 17 regular lines and 70 feeder lines (permanent and transport on demand). The lines will gradually enter service in three phases and will ultimately ensure 90 million passenger kilometres yearly.
 
The creation of this completely new network is a response to the mobility challenge in the Saudi capital, which has a population of 5.7 million and no regulated public transport system.  The contract to operate the bus network is an ambitious project that includes the development of an entire transport system for the city of Riyadh including both metro and bus networks.
 
“RATP Group is particularly proud to have been selected alongside its Saudi partner SAPTCO for this highly ambitious bus project. Our intention is to set a world standard and offer service quality equal to the best international standards from the moment it enters service”, said RATP Group chairman and chief executive Pierre Mongin. “This is a major chapter in the development of our group, which has signed one of the most important contracts in its history and is setting up in a region where there are many new transport infrastructure projects”.
 
“In this project, which combines the experience and detailed field knowledge of SAPTCO with the internationally acknowledged expertise of RATP Group, we will implement all our know-how to offer a high level of service quality and meet the expectations of the ArRiyadh Development Authority and passengers”, stressed SAPTCO chairman and chief executive Khalid Al Hogail. 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Carbon finance delivers critical support to mass transit schemes
    February 2, 2012
    David Crawford investigates carbon finance in transport. World Bank carbon finance grants are delivering critical support to major mass transit deployments in emerging and developing economies. Only recently operative in the transport sector, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM, see panel) is designed to generate additional income streams and improve internal rates of return on projects funded from public- and private-sector sources.
    Read More
  • AECOM awarded LRT contract by Metrolinx, Canada
    April 15, 2016
    Infrastructure firm AECOM has been selected to provide technical advisory services on the Hurontario light rail transit (LRT) projects in Mississauga and Brampton and the Hamilton LRT project in Hamilton, Canada, for Government of Ontario agency Metrolinx. The Hurontario and Hamilton LRT projects are part of the largest infrastructure investment in Ontario’s history and are expected to have a notable impact on regional transit by providing crucial links between many of the existing lines, as well as on t
    Read More
  • The growth of ITS service solutions providers
    July 26, 2012
    Econolite's new subsidiary Aegis ITS has been set up to address the increasingly complex and exacting needs of agencies in the ITS sector. Chief Operating Officer Doug Terry talks about the evolution to service solution provider. A few very notable and honourable exceptions notwithstanding, it is these days becoming increasingly rare to find a public agency which develops its own traffic management systems. Indeed, most now rely on specialist manufacturers and suppliers to fulfil their needs. This has the h
    Read More
  • Ability to keep in touch on US buses woos travellers
    February 1, 2012
    David Crawford finds evidence of a new trend in American intercity travel: that better access to data sources on the move is tempting passengers away from air travel and onto surface modes. In the US the ease of use of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) is successfully wooing long-distance travellers away from airlines and onto surface public transport, according to just-published research. Using data from field observations of 7,028 passengers travelling by bus, air and train in 14 US states and the Distri
    Read More

Highlighted Content