A ship carrying buses donated by France to Lebanon, at the Beirut port, on May 23, 2022. (Credit: Houssam Chbaro)
BEIRUT — The director-general of the Office of Railways and Public Transport, Ziad Nasr, on Saturday gave L'Orient-Le Jour details about the four bus routes that will utilize buses donated by France.
A total of 10 out of the 50 buses donated to Lebanon by France and received last May will be put into circulation on four different routes across "greater Beirut," Nasr said Friday.
On Friday, Caretaker Minister of Transport and Public Works Ali Hamieh participated in a test session of the buses, announcing that they will be put into service as soon as Monday.
Nasr also told L'Orient-Le Jour that the railway office will assign 28 drivers to drive the buses, adding that the fare will be fixed at LL20,000 per trip.
The four bus routes are:
- Line One: Starts from Nahr al-Mot, North Beirut, and ends in Ain Mreisseh at the Central Military Club
Dora roundabout - Karantina - Forum de Beirut - Charles Helou Avenue - Rafik Hariri Street (St. George Hotel) - Mina el-Hosn - Paris Street - Manara - Central Military Club
In the opposite direction, the line starts from Cola and passes through: Corniche Mazraa - Barbir - National Museum - Adlieh roundabout (Justice Palace), Corniche el-Nahr, Dora/Nahr el-Mot.
- Line Three: Starts from Martyrs' Square and ends in Damour, south of Beirut
Weygand Street - Omar Daouk Street - General Fouad Chehab street - Salim Slem - Hafez el-Assad Street - Kuwait Embassy roundabout - Imam Moussa Sadr Street - Ouzai - Khaldeh - Naameh - Damour (near the Chouf bridge)
- Line Four: Starts from Nahr al-Mot and ends in Khaldeh
Dora roundabout - Karantina - Forum de Beirut - Beirut river - Pierre Gemayel Corniche - Adlieh roundabout (Justice Palace) - Sami el-Solh Avenue - Furn el-Chebbak - Chevrolet crossroads (south of Beirut) - Camille Chamoun Boulevard - Semaan Gallery - Hadath - el-Kafa'at - Lebanese University - Kfarchima - Choueifat - Khaldeh bridge - Khaldeh (coast road near the Islamic University)
- Line Six: Starts from the Adlieh roundabout (Justice Palace) and ends at the Lebanese University in Hadath
Railways Office in Mar Mikhael - Corniche el-Nahr - Adlieh roundabout - Tayyouneh roundabout - Hadi Nasrallah road - Bir Abed - Lebanese University
Lack of resources
The decision to operate only 10 of the 50 buses is linked to a lack of resources, said Nasr.
"We do not have sufficient funds to finance the fuel and maintenance costs of more buses," he said without saying how long his office would be able to operate the 10 buses that will be put in service.
The minister pointed out that the 28 drivers mobilized are currently paid only LL2.4 million per month (the equivalent of $55, at the parallel market rate). He praised their decision to accept to drive these buses to "serve the public interest."
Nasr stressed that the drivers have not benefited from the salary increases introduced by decree during the crisis. The 2022 budget — which should have come into effect before the end of the year, but is still under appeal to the Constitutional Council — will triple the salaries of civil servants, whose salaries are still calculated according to the old official rate of LL1,507.5 to the dollar. This rate has been rendered obsolete by the collapse of the national currency.
As for the remaining 40 buses, the ministry and the agency plan to outsource their management to the private sector.
"A tender will be launched as soon as the specifications are ready," said Nasr, without offering a specific timeline. He also mentioned that his office has an additional 45 buses, some of which are in poor condition.
Last March, while visiting Beirut, French Minister of Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari and Hamiyeh signed a cooperation agreement under which France offered the 50 buses to the Lebanese State.
The agreement also includes two years of technical assistance to the Lebanese Railways and Transport Office for the maintenance of the buses and their operation, including recruitment, training, ticketing and route planning.