Saudi Public Transport Co (Saptco) and its alliance with Frances RATP Dev has jointly secured a US$2.09bn contract to operate and maintain buses in Saudi Arabia?s capital Riyadh
The 10-year deal will be linked to the city's railway project - known as the King Abdulaziz Project for Public Transport - and will handle the procurement, operation and maintenance of the buses, Saptco said in a statement.
Saptco and France's Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) in January 2010 had signed a strategic partnership to develop the public transport system in Saudi Arabia, including a tramway and metro system.
In July 2013, the Saudi government had awarded US$22.5bn in contracts to three foreign-led consortia in July last year for the design and construction of the first metro rail system in Riyadh.
The metro aims to help ease traffic congestion in the capital, a city of six million people, with a six-line network across Riyadh and serving the airport.
