Bus and coach company National Express has been awarded a major bus contract in Casablanca, Morocco, for up to 15 years.
Casablanca is Morocco's largest city and economic capital and the contract is expected to secure more than €1 billion in revenue over its term.
The contract will start in November 2019 with an initial 400 buses in operation. This will increase to 700 buses next year, carrying 100 million passengers annually. As well as operating the bus services, the contract includes responsibilities to introduce new payment and scheduling systems, alongside a network re-design.
This contract has been awarded to ALSA, National Express Group's Spanish and Moroccan division, after the successful start-up of the more than 400 bus Rabat contract in August.
As in other Moroccan cities, there is opportunity for further growth in other local Casablanca transport markets, such as school buses and tourist services.
This caps a successful summer for National Express, including the renewal and significant expansion of its second largest US transit contract, in Boston.
This renewal, for up to 7.5 years, starting in January 2020, has seen revenue nearly double to $420 million across the contract. Small contract wins in New York (two) and Connecticut continue to develop the company's hub strategy, with efficient growth from existing locations in major urban areas.
Additionally, the start-up of its new 400 vehicle accessible transport business in the West Midlands over the summer has helped build a strong credential to target expansion in the growing market.
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National Express CEO Dean Finch said: "I am delighted we have secured this significant contract in Morocco. 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 海角视频. We look forward to serving the people of Casablanca soon.
"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."
The Casablanca contract is for an initial 10-year term, with an optional 5 years depending on well-established performance criteria. Applying the same performance criteria, ALSA secured a 5-year extension on its Marrakesh contract in 2014.
ALSA has been present in Morocco for 20 years, building from an initial contract in Marrakesh to operate services in Agadir (2010), Tangier (2013), Khouribga (2015) and Rabat (2019).