First batch of double-decker buses operate in Cairo streets

CAIRO - 18 March 2018: The first batch of air-conditioned and locally produced double-decker buses started operating on Saturday in Cairo’s streets in a bid from the Public Transport Authority to develop public transportation and improve the service offered to citizens.

The first batch includes 12 buses that will run in two transport lines through the densely-populated capital. Tickets for the new 71-seater buses cost EGP 5.


The first batch of air-conditioned and locally produced double-decker buses started operating on Saturday in Cairo’s streets - Press photo

The new buses are manufactured by the Egyptian company Kastour and all the of the double-decker buses’ stages of manufacturing are carried out in Egypt with local components representing 65 percent, which is a great added value for the national industry in general and the transport industry in particular.

Cairo governor Atef Abdel Hamid stated that the operation of these buses in the streets of Cairo is considered the start of the cultivation leap witnessed by the Public Transport Authority for the first time in its history and that the cost of the first batch is estimated at LE 28 million.

The first batch of air-conditioned and locally produced double-decker buses started operating on Saturday in Cairo’s streets - Press photo

“We will supervise everything about the service, the Wi-Fi connection, the air-conditioning and so forth,” Abdel Hamid told Egypt Today.

Abdel Hamid took one of the new buses from Abdeen Square to Tahrir Square to follow the specifications and operation of the bus and back again.

The new buses are part of the company's EGP 1 billion plan to bring a total of 180 buses and mini buses into operation along 18 lines across Cairo in its first phase, the company said in a statement.

The first batch of air-conditioned and locally produced double-decker buses started operating on Saturday in Cairo’s streets - Press photo