MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA SUPPLEMENT
Think big, act smart Alain Flausch of UITP sees huge potential for public transport in the Middle East and North Africa
‘We are now Dubai’s backbone’ Public transport plays an increasingly important role in Dubai, carrying 539 million people in 2015
Building for growth in Bahrain NEG has used its strengths to create a new public transport network for the Kingdom of Bahrain
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
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MENA Think big, act smart Alain Flausch of UITP sees huge potential for public transport in the Middle East and North Africa
Extending from Morocco to Iran, the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region is home to over 300 million inhabitants. Historically, these countries have focussed mainly on investing in infrastructure to satisfy rapidly increasing demand for private vehicles. However, there is growing recognition in the region of the benefits of investing in public transport, support by growing levels of investment in metro, light rail and bus rapid transit projects. There are currently around $150bn of future projects planned across the MENA region (see pages 46-47) UITP, the Brussels-based international association of public transport, is helping that region with its efforts to decrease its long standing reliance on private transport. UITP set up its MENA Division, combined with the opening of an office in Dubai, in 2005. UITP’s biennial World Congress and exhibition was held in Dubai in 2011 and there www.passengertransport.co.uk
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is now a biennial MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition - the next one will be held in Dubai on April 25-27. The slogan for this event sums up UITP’s strategy for the region in four words: ‘Think big, act smart’. Alain Flausch, UITP’s secretary general, sees huge opportunities for public transport across the MENA region, although he admits that it is “still very much car dependent”. The car remains the “natural status symbol that goes together with having a bit of money”, but there is growing recognition of the need for “collective” transport. However, he points to the example of Dubai, where the Shiekh studied cities around the world and became convinced of the need for a high quality public transport system. He had the vision and he created it - although public transport was predominately used by expatriate workers. It’s getting better, however, and its appeal is extending to other sections of
the population. There are now 164 million journeys a year on the high spec Dubai Metro, which opened in 2009. Commenting on the Metro, Flausch says: “It’s state of the art, it’s driverless, air conditioned everywhere, beautiful stations, well designed - there’s no doubt they did the best they could.” Cultural change doesn’t happen overnight, but Dubai had to do something. The city is built along a corridor, with no clearly defined centre. New lanes of traffic have been added to the central highway so that there are now up to to seven lanes in each direction - but each time a lane was added it quickly filled up. Just 100 miles away, Abu Dhabi is wrestling with the same problems. Flausch says the emirate has hesitated over plans to build a metro and he questions the logic of instead investing in Ferrari World, the motorsportthemed entertainment complex. 1 April 2016 | 41
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MENA ALAIN FLAUSCH
In contrast, however, Qatar has used its vast oil revenues to push ahead with decisive investment plans linked to the 2022 World Cup. The $36bn Doha Metro, with four lines covering 300km, is scheduled to open in 2019. The Qatari capital currently only has a population of around one million people, but Qatar’s rulers are striving to create a regional trading hub. “They have the money, and they bet that when the oil is over people will continue to come there,” Flausch explains. The situation facing public transport differs across the vast MENA region. In Egypt, Cairo used to have an excellent metro, says Flausch, but it is now in desperate need of renewal. And with the country in the midst of political turmoil, there is no long term vision. “They have very well educated and skilled people,” he says. “They know what they’re talking about, but it’s still too unstable a situation to really make long term plans.” Algeria has meanwhile emerged from a civil war that resulted in a lost decade. There have been huge investments in public transport, including the opening of new light rail lines in the largest cities, but the low oil price threatens to hamper future plans in this oilproducing country. Next door, Tunisia is totally bankrupt, and its public transport system is in a very bad shape, but Morocco is on a very different trajectory. “They’re doing well,” says Flausch. “When you compare the cities you have the feeling that there is more money on the street or in the shops.” There is a commitment in Morocco to continue to develop public transport, including efforts to reorganise the institutional setting so that there is a transport authority. UITP opened a new office in Casablanca last year, its second in the MENA region. This office is in charge of organising and providing training, studies and seminars to public transport professionals in the region, as well as raising the international profile of sustainable mobility projects in the Maghreb. Flausch would like to see the oil price increase from its current $40 per barrel, to provide much-needed revenue to oil producing countries and to help public transport to compete with the private car. “I hope the oil price will go back again to $50 or $60 [per barrel], much more reasonable,” he says. He recalls the first oil shock in 1973. “I think 42 | 1 April 2016 PT_Issue131_p41-42 42
FIND OUT MORE Visit www.uitp-mena.com
“You need national money, but it needs to be decided on a local level” the barrel was at $35 in those days,” he says. “It’s terrible. It’s not the right price [presently]. All our salaries have been going up, all the costs, and the price is down for oil. Something is wrong, it’s destabilised the whole system.” Iran is struggling with low oil prices, but is benefiting from the lifting of sanctions. Flausch says it is a very sophisticated society where the skills to develop public transport are readily available. He says that other parts of the MENA region are overly dependent on consultants from the UK or elsewhere. “I believe that consultants are useful, but they always sell you what they want,” he says. “To use a consultant you also need to be knowledgeable ... if you’re not then it doesn’t work.” He adds: “You need skills locally ... If you don’t know, either you are over cautious or you are bullish and you make a big mistake.” In Iran, Flausch say that there are plenty of extremely well educated people with the right skills. The country has signed up to UITP’s ‘PTx2’ strategy, which is to double the market share of public transport worldwide by 2025. There is a need to do something - for example, with a population of 16 million people, Tehran is one of world’s most congested cities. And Flausch says that the cost of congestion has been estimated as being as high as 8% of GDP! “I always use this example of a sales team,” he says. “Imagine you are the sales director and you have a team of sales people that have to be on the road ... If you have six rendezvouses per day, it’s much better than two. And in Tehran you would have two rendezvouses per day.” So what part of the MENA region has impressed Flausch the most? “I think that leading the show is still Dubai,” he says. “They have a close relationship with UITP, but they have developed their own vision. And the guy in charge has been there for 10 years so he has been able to create some continuity.” He says that Dubai is run like a corporation, with a CEO. At the beginning it was very much a top-down approach, but now he believes that the city’s leaders are changing.
“I see now that they are understanding that even a company doesn’t work well this way, because it’s just a military troupe,” he explains. “It’s not always very efficient. You need to involve your people. I see a change there, and this is a path many others still have to follow.” Meanwhile, he thinks Morocco would be viewed as more sophisticated in terms of setting the scene. “You know, the problem with transport is that you need national money, but it needs to be decided at a local level,” he says. “Because deciding from a national level will generally make a huge mistake. “The most advanced countries have been setting up a proper scene to arrange for that combination between the two levels.” Following what it heard at UITP, Saudi Arabia set up a public transport authority, SAPTCO (Saudi Public Transport Company), and it is now taking forward enhancement projects. The MENA Centre for Transport Excellence was launched as a joint effort between Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) and UITP in 2011. It is dedicated to helping all of the countries in the MENA region to make progress in terms of mobility. “The first thing we do is collect data,” says Flausch. “We have an expression in Dutch which is ‘meten is weten’, measuring is knowing.” The aim is to enable countries to compare themselves and establish which ones are the most successful on the basis of hard figures, and not just subjective perception. There are strong rivalries between different countries and cities within the MENA region. Perhaps in future they will compete to deliver sustainable transport systems, centred upon world leading public transport provision.
MENA TRANSPORT CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION 2016 MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition 2016 will take place in Dubai from April 25-27. It will provide an opportunity to learn more about these developments and other public transport projects in the whole MENA region. This year’s event will be even bigger than the last one in 2014, which was attended by over 2,000 visitors and featured an exhibition area of over 6,000 square metres. www.uitp-mena.com
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MENA RTA
The Dubai Metro carried 178.6 million passengers last year
‘We are now Dubai’s backbone’ Public transport plays an increasingly important role in Dubai, carrying 539 million people in 2015
Public transport in Dubai carried 539 million people in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%, according to the latest figures from the emirate’s Roads and Transport Authority. Dubai’s public transport system, which includes metro, tram, buses, taxis and marine transit, achieved average daily ridership of about 1.5 million; up from 1.3 million in 2013. December recorded the highest ridership rate of mass transit means with more than 48 million riders using public transport. The breakdown of this number shows that 17.1 million riders used the Dubai Metro, 17.3 million riders used taxis, 11.8 million riders used buses, 1.4 million riders used marine transit modes, and 460,000 riders used the 44 | 1 April 2016 PT_Issue131_p44-45 44
Dubai Tram. New Year’s Eve recorded the highest number of daily riders - 1,859,320. Over the course of the year, the Dubai Metro’s red and green lines carried 178.6 million, compared with 164.3 million in 2014 and about 137.8 million in 2013. The Dubai tram carried a further 4.1 million riders.
“The public transport network in Dubai has become the backbone of people’s mobility” HE Mattar Al Tayer, RTA
Buses clocked up 134.8 million passenger journeys in 2015, lower than the 148.1 million riders in 2014 but above the 130.5 million back in 2013. Public bus routes accounted for the lion’s share of the number of bus riders served last year, recording 88.632 million riders, followed by metro stations feeder services recording 28.3 million riders, inter-city services reporting about 12 million riders, and bus rental services transporting about 5.9 million. The ridership of marine transit modes (comprising abras, water bus, water taxi, and ferry) recorded 14.4 million riders last year. Dubai Taxicabs (Dubai Taxi, Hala Taxi and franchise company taxis) made 103.789 million trips, carrying about 207.6 million passengers. www.passengertransport.co.uk
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Backbone “Comprising a full range of integrated services, the public transport network in Dubai has become the backbone of people’s mobility in various parts of the emirate of Dubai,” comments HE Mattar Al Tayer, director general and chairman of RTA. “RTA’s efforts in this regard contributed to raising public transport ridership across the board. The share of public transport in the mobility of people has leapfrogged from 6% in 2006 to 15% in 2015 and RTA is endeavouring to push it to as much as 20% by 2020, and 30% by 2030. Equally important, according to Al Tayer, RTA is transforming the culture of various segments of the community and changing attitudes towards using public transport. “People have started to grasp and feel the benefits associated with the use of mass transit means such as the physical relief, peace of mind, financial savings, higher safety, lower expenses of car usage in terms of fuel and maintenance, among others,” he says. Al Tayer says that the statistics demonstrate the effectiveness of plans and programs undertaken by RTA in providing a variety of options for moving people in Dubai. “The strategic and executive plans for roads and transport systems pursued by RTA are based on the principle of integrated services that translate into achieving smooth and accessible mobility in the emirate,” he explains. “They focus on providing integrated solutions in terms of improving and broadening the roads network and crossings, upgrading various components of mass transit systems. This includes the metro, tram, buses and water transport means, enhancing the technology used in traffic and transport systems to ensure the optimal utilisation and highest efficiency of roads and mass transit systems. RTA adopt policies capable of reducing the almost total reliance ... on private vehicles and increasing peoples’ reliance on other transit systems including public transport, and encouraging journey-sharing practices, especially in a city like Dubai where the ownership of private vehicles is as high as one vehicle per two persons among the population.”
Massive projects To support its efforts to make public transport systems the first choice for citizens, residents www.passengertransport.co.uk
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and visitors, RTA has ambitious plans for upgrading roads infrastructure and mass transit systems, as well as improving the efficiency of public transport and broadening the delivery of smart services to the public. There are more than 35 “mega projects”, and the most important of them are designing and constructing public transport services for hosting Expo 2020. These include the extension of the Dubai Metro’s Red Line and upgrading roads and junctions leading to the site of the Expo. In addition, RTA are going to procure new trains to keep up with the sustained growth in the number of metro users in the lead up to 2020. RTA is also planning to broaden the coverage of the public transport network to reach 16 new districts and improving the
service in 19 others by 2020. It will also be focusing on upgrading marine transit modes, which are set to witness a breakthrough improvement in operations with the opening of the Dubai Water Canal linking the Business Bay with the Arabian Gulf.
Funding The total expenditure budget approved for RTA in 2016 amounted to AED7.6bn (£1.5bn), comprising an operational budget of AED3.9bn (£0.7bn) and an infrastructure projects budget of AED3.696bn (£0.7bn). The largest share of the budget (37%), will be allocated to the Rail Agency, 31% to the Traffic & Roads Agency, 10% to the Public Transport Agency, 4% to the Licensing Agency, and 18% to supporting sectors at RTA.
An articulated bus outside a station on the Dubai Metro
The Dubai Tram carried 4.1 million passengers in 2015
Marine transit modes carried 14.4 million passengers last year
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MENA FUTURE PROJECTS
ALGERIA SIDI BEL ABBES TRAMWAY LENGTH 17.8km MODE LRT OUARGLA TRAMWAY LENGTH 12.6km MODE LRT
MOROCCO BLIDA TRAMWAY LENGTH 11km MODE LRT TLEMCEN TRAMWAY LENGTH 21.5km MODE LRT
MOSTAGANEM TRAMWAY LENGTH 14.2km MODE LRT
TIZI OUZOU CABLEWAY: SECTION 1, 2 & 3 LENGTH 5.5km MODE LRT
SETIF TRAMWAY LENGTH 22.4km MODE LRT
ALGIERS CABLEWAY LENGTH 2.0km MODE LRT
ANNABA TRAMWAY LENGTH 21.8km MODE LRT
CONSTANTINE CABLEWAY LENGTH 6.0km MODE LRT
CONSTANTINE TRAMWAY LENGTH 13km MODE LRT BATNA TRAMWAY LENGTH 15km MODE LRT ORAN TRAMWAY (EXTENSION A, B C & D) LENGTH 29.7km MODE LRT BECHAR TRAMWAY LENGTH 13km MODE LRT BEJAIA TRAMWAY LENGTH 9.7km MODE LRT
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BOUREGREG VALLEY PROJECT-RABAT LENGTH 16.9km
CASABLANCA TO OUJDA RAILWAY COMPLETION 2030 TANGIER TO AGADIR RAILWAY COMPLETION 2030 LENGTH 1,500km MODE Railway
RABAT TRAMWAY EXPANSION COMPLETION 2018 LENGTH 20km CASABLANCA TRAMWAY LENGTH 15km MODE LRT
CASABLANCA DEDICATED BUS LANES COMPLETION 2020 LENGTH 80km MODE BRT AGADIR BUS COMPLETION 2020
BENI SAF: SECTION 1 & 2 LENGTH 7.2km MODE LRT ALGIERS METRO EXTENSIONS: SECTION 1, 2 & 3 COMPLETION 2011-18 LENGTH 9.3km MODE Metro ALGIERS METRO EXTENSIONS: LINE 1 LENGTH 18km MODE Metro ALGIERS METRO EXTENSIONS: OTHER LENGTH 37km MODE Metro ORAN METRO COMPLETION 2014-20 LENGTH 19.7km MODE Metro
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MOTORWAYS AND EXPRESSWAYS COMPLETION 2015 LENGTH 2,854km MODE Roads and highways
TUNISIA TUNIS CITY TRAMWAY EXPANSIONS COMPLETION 2015-17 LENGTH 7.7km MODE LRT TUNIS CITY LIGHT RAIL COMPLETION 2021 LENGTH 85.3km MODE LRT
EGYPT SFAX TRAM EXTENSIONS COMPLETION 2019 LENGTH 33.5km MODE LRT SFAX BRT COMPLETION 2029 LENGTH 36.4km MODE BRT
LRT RAMSIS: HELIOPOLIS & ALF MASKAN LENGTH 25km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $0.5bn BRT NEW CAIRO: NASR CITY LENGTH 31.8km MODE BRT INVESTMENT $0.4bn BRT 6TH OF OCTOBER TO WEST & CENTRAL CAIRO LENGTH 87km MODE BRT INVESTMENT $1bn
BRT RING ROAD: CAIRO ISMAILIA ROAD LENGTH 42km MODE BRT INVESTMENT $0.9bn LINKING SHOUBRA TO NASR CITY LENGTH 25km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $1.2bn LRT EL KHOSOOS BAB EL SHEREIA THROUGH PORTSAID STREET LENGTH 10km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $0.5bn
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LEBANON BEIRUT-TABARJA PROJECT COMPLETION 2016 LENGTH 24km MODE BRT INVESTMENT $0.2bn
KUWAIT
IRAN
KUWAIT METRO RAIL COMPLETION 2020 LENGTH 160km MODE Driverless metro INVESTMENT $7bn
KUWAIT NATIONAL RAIL ROAD SYSTEM COMPLETION 2020 LENGTH 511km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $10bn
TEHRAN METRO EXPANSION: PHASE 2 LENGTH 102km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $19bn
QOM MONORAIL: PHASE 2 LENGTH 18.5km MODE Monorail INVESTMENT $1.8bn
IRAN-ARMENIA RAILWAY LENGTH 540km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $2bn
BAHRAIN PHASE 1 COMPLETION 2009-16 LENGTH 24km MODE LRT & Tram
$0.2bn $3.2bn
$23.8bn $17bn $8.1bn
$4.5bn
PHASE 3 COMPLETION 2022-30 LENGTH 87km MODE LRT, Monorail, Tram & BRT
PHASE 2 COMPLETION 2016-21 LENGTH 73km MODE LRT, Monorail & BRT
QATAR
$45.1bn $21.4bn $41.8bn
DOHA METRO COMPLETION 2019 LENGTH 300km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $36bn
QATAR NATIONAL RAIL COMPLETION 2026 LENGTH 350km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $9.1bn
UAE
JORDAN
SAUDI ARABIA
AQABA-SYRIA RAILWAY COMPLETION 2020 LENGTH 509km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $2.4bn
JORDAN-SAUDI RAILWAY COMPLETION 2020 LENGTH 91km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $0.1bn
ZARQA-IRAQ RAILWAY COMPLETION 2020 LENGTH 290km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $0.4bn
AMMAN BRT COMPLETION 2017 LENGTH 32km MODE BRT INVESTMENT $0.2bn
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RIYADH METRO COMPLETION 2018 LENGTH 178km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $7.9bn
NORTH SOUTH RAILWAY LINE LENGTH 175km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $8bn
EXPANSION OF MECCA METRO COMPLETION 2017 LENGTH 180km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $16.5bn
JEDDAH METRO COMPLETION 2020 LENGTH 108km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $9.4bn
METRO EXPANSION COMPLETION 2030 LENGTH 421km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $TBD DUBAI METRO RED LINE EXPANSION (ROUTE 2020) COMPLETION 2020 LENGTH 15km MODE Driverless metro INVESTMENT $3.4bn
ABU DHABI METRO & TRAM COMPLETION 2017 LENGTH 131km MODE LRT INVESTMENT $7bn ETIHAD RAIL COMPLETION TBD LENGTH 1,200km INVESTMENT $11bn
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MENA NATIONAL EXPRESS
Building for growth in Bahrain National Express Group has used its strengths in both Europe and the USA in order to create a new public transport network for the Kingdom of Bahrain The last decade or so has seen countries in the Middle East investing significantly in public transport provision in a bid to improve the physical infrastructure of cities across the region. Many of these cities see a reliance on the private car and taxis and, in a bid to create sustainable cities and reduce congestion, public transport is increasingly coming to the fore. In Bahrain, Britain’s National Express Group in partnership with Ahmed Mansoor Al a’Ali (AMA) was awarded a major contract in September 2014 by the state’s Ministry of Transportation to oversee and manage bus operations in the Kingdom for a 10-year period from February 2015. “They had a vision of a real step change,” says Tim Reynolds, operations and network planning manager for the group’s international business. “There was a small bus operation, but it was mostly about taxis and cars. Bahrain wanted to look towards Europe and the rest of the world and create a modern public transport system that would deliver for the local population.” The previous small bus operation had a peak vehicle requirement of just 36 buses and the new contract took this to 128 with a new network serving the capital of Manama and interurban routes across the entire Kingdom of Bahrain. “It has been a significant transformation,” adds Reynolds. “The previous network served a handful of locations, but today over 77% of the population have access to the public transport network. I think it has delivered that step-change that was so desired by the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications.” The previous bus network was operated, effectively, as an extension of the taxi network. Quality, not to say reliability, was poor and it was judged that there were a number of customer service issues, with ticketing and cash handling techniques that were archaic. “But it served a purpose,” says Reynolds. “It was all about ferrying expatriate workers to and from their workplaces in the service industry. That 48 | 1 April 2016 PT_Issue131_p48-49 48
was the real purpose of the old bus network.” Seeking a step change in public transport provision in the Kingdom, the first step was obviously to revitalise the bus network. Reynolds says that Bahrain is particularly lucky in that His Excellency Kamal bin Ahmed, Bahrain’s minister of transportation, and his team are particularly proactive. “They knew the goals that they wanted to achieve and how they wanted to do it,” he adds. “They had a vision. We obviously want to meet that vision, so it involves working very closely. If we suggest, they listen and vice-versa too. It’s a partnership, just like all our other businesses.” After a bidding process, National Express Group was shortlisted for the contract with its partner AMA, a local conglomerate. Through this 50/50 joint venture they created Bahrain Public Transport Company which holds the bus contracts for a 10-year period. “There were several areas of our tender submission that impressed,” notes Reynolds. “They particularly liked the safety plan, our top priority as a group, and the partnership working ethic. One huge advantage that the UK transport groups have, I think, is that in the UK we have a culture of partnership working. National Express has worked in partnership with local authorities both in the West Midlands and Dundee for many years,
Caetano-bodied MAN Lion’s City buses form the backbone of the fleet
so we have experience and knowledge of what that entails. In Bahrain, the partnership with the ministry is real. We are working together literally every day, to improve. Our general manager spends four or five mornings a week with the MTT [ministry].” Reynolds also feels that the deregulated nature of bus operation in the UK, outside London, also provides some unique skills that played a part in the capture of the Bahrain contract. Whereas a rival group from overseas may have a lot of experience in working within a franchised environment, UK groups have a unique set of skills that they can bring to the table based on commercial acumen. “We know a lot about designing a network, we know a lot about creating efficiencies through scheduling and we know a lot about marketing and ticketing,” he says. “Where your bread and butter business is just operating contracts for people, you probably won’t be able to draw on those skills in the same way that we can. That has provided a unique advantage.” Reynolds points to a couple of situations that have arisen in Bahrain where these very British strengths have come to the fore. For example, the contract called for a number of routes to use the same corridor out of the central business district of Manama before diverging to reach their ultimate destinations. “They had all these buses leaving the CBD at the same time and then nothing for 20 minutes,” he says. “We pointed out that the obvious thing to do would be to spread out the departures in order to have a bus every few minutes over the common section of route. That obviously has huge benefits for the travelling public. We could have just accepted the contract and operated it to the letter, but where we think we can add value is in our experiences from elsewhere. We have a unique understanding and that’s where our commercial knowledge comes in.” Of course National Express can not only draw on its strengths in the UK, both in the bus and rail markets. The group also has www.passengertransport.co.uk
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significant operations overseas, principally in Spain, Germany, North Africa and North America. “You say National Express and people think of coaches,” notes Reynolds. “We’re more than that. We are the second largest independent operator of yellow school buses in the United States, for example. It means there’s plenty of experience that we can tap into.” The award of the Bahrain contract saw an extremely short mobilisation period, going from signing contracts to delivery of the buses in the Kingdom in just 99 days - perhaps a record? Caetano-bodied MAN Lion’s City buses form the backbone of the fleet with a small number of Optare Solo midibuses on feeder routes. “Getting the vehicles here was a challenge,” admits Reynolds. “But it shows what we can do. Our procurement people worked very hard and it helps that they have a fair bit of clout with the manufacturers.” People played a significant part in the award of the contract. National Express inherited a handful of staff from the previous contractor and commitments have also been made to ensure that locals are trained and developed in the myriad of roles involved in managing a busy bus operation day-to-day. Reynolds notes wryly that it would have been easy to take the route of just parachuting westerners into these roles, but the aim is to create a sustainable business that has the right local skills for the future. It has involved lots of training, not just by National Express, but also supplier partners, such as MAN, to pass on the right skills to locals recruited to fulfill roles. It means that while there are staff from National Express’s businesses in place to launch operations, as time goes on more and more of these roles will be held by locals. But National Express ensured that the same team who bid the contract mobilised and operated it, providing continuity and shared responsibility at every stage for the ministry. The majority of jobs are, of course, driving jobs with the staff base being a mix of locals and economic migrants from India. Reynolds says that there’s a good contingent of drivers and they are very committed. “Of course we have to provide something for the Indian staff that you don’t really see in the UK and that’s accommodation,” he adds. “Our team are also our guests. They live with us in our own NX accommodation facility which houses a number of our staff. We want them to be www.passengertransport.co.uk
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The bus stations have been extensively refurbished
“They had a vision. We obviously want to meet that vision, so it involves working very closely” proud of where they live and for them to enjoy excellent facilities. There’s internet access and cooking facilities too. We want to retain staff, so it’s about providing them with the best facilities we can.” Although a small number of staff transitioned from the previous contractor, the entire contract was largely a clean sheet with a new network, refurbished facilities and new buses. As Reynolds notes, there have been no nasty inherited surprises as it’s effectively a new operation. “Our competition is largely taxis and small minibuses,” says Reynolds. “The minibuses historically shared the bus stations and although they have now been moved out of the bus stations, they actually play a big part bringing people to the network from the smaller villages, particularly at peak times. I think we can co-exist.” The depot infrastructure and three bus stations are leased and managed by National Express and all have been extensively refurbished. “The bus stations were particularly grotty,” notes Reynolds candidly. “They were really bad, but the
difference now is incredible. You wouldn’t think they were the same building.” Meanwhile, particular attention has been paid to health and safety with the introduction of requirements that would have been unheard of under the previous regime. That means health and safety processes that would be considered the norm in the UK, such as safe walking routes and improved lighting, have been introduced. Operations commenced in April 2015 after a few weeks where a skeleton network was offered to bridge the gap between the end of the old contract in February and the start of the new contract. Previously around 10,000 people a day used buses in Bahrain, but Reynolds reveals that this has now reached 52,000 a day. “It’s now building and building and building,” he adds. “Previously buses were a bit hit and miss, but we’ve provided a level of professionalism and certainty that means we’re winning back the trust of the local population in buses. We’re becoming part of people’s lives. That’s the part that public transport should play.” With the Bahrain operation now up and running, National Express is turning its attention to other bidding opportunities, both in the Middle East region and elsewhere. “For any bid we can pull expertise from across the group,” says Reynolds. “We know where we have strengths and skills and so it’s about matching that to the bid and delivering each partner’s vision.” 1 April 2016 | 49
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