The British National Express has won a MAD 12.3 billion (1 billion GBP) contract to operate buses in Casablanca for the next 15 years, making Morocco a bigger market for the British company than the UK.

The British public transportation company that owns ALSA, National Express, has almost doubled its presence in Morocco thanks to its new contract with the Foundation for Cooperation among Communes in Casablanca.

The contract signed on October 15, on the sidelines of the October regular session of Casablanca Council, enables ALSA to manage the public transport in 18 communes starting from November 2019. The contract also assigns Al Bayda Transport Company surveillance and tracking tasks.

ALSA will begin operation in the economic capital on November 1st, with 350 buses provided by the Foundation for Cooperation among Communes in Casablanca. In November of 2020, the company is set to bring the total number of buses to 700, which are expected to carry a total of 100 million passengers a year.

In addition to a network redesign, a new payment and a scheduling system will be put in place by the National Express-owned company.

For National Express, this contract follows two major achievements in the same year, the enlargement of its bus fleet in Boston, USA and the introduction of 400 buses in Rabat.

The Chief Executive of National Express, Dean Finch, said in a statement that he is delighted with this “significant contract in Morocco.” He adds that their presence of the company was doubled in August after Rabat’s contract, and now it’s been quadrupled thanks to contract in Casablanca.

The Mayor of Casablanca, Abdelaziz El Omari, called on the residents of Casablanca to be patient during the transition to the new transport company.