(Alliance News) - National Express Group PLC on Wednesday said its Spanish and Moroccan division, ALSA, has secured a contract to operate buses in Morocco's largest city Casablanca.
The contract, which commences in November, is for an initial 10-year term, with an optional five years depending on the company achieving certain performance targets. It is worth more than EUR1 billion in revenue over its term.
The contract also includes introducing new payment and scheduling systems and a re-design of bus network.
The public transport operator said it will initially operate 400 buses in Casablanca, which will then increase to 700 buses in 2020, carrying 100 million passengers annually.
"This nearly doubles our presence in Morocco, which had already doubled in August with Rabat's successful start-up. We will now operate more buses in Morocco than the UK. We look forward to serving the people of Casablanca soon," said National Express Chief Executive Dean Finch.
The EUR1 billion 15-year contract to operate buses in Moroccan cities of Rabat, Sale and Temara was announced in July.
"It is particularly pleasing that our track record for service excellence in Morocco was an important reason for our success. A similar reputation was also crucial to last week's successful renewal and significant expansion of our second largest US transit contract, in Boston. It is through this consistent focus on excellence for our customers that we will continue to deliver growing shareholder returns," Finch added.
National Express shares were down 0.1% at 448.00 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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