JEDDAH: Saudi Public Transport Co. (Saptco) said its alliance with France’s RATP Dev has jointly secured a contract worth SR7.855 billion ($2.09 billion) contract to operate and maintain buses in Riyadh.

The 10-year deal will be linked to the city’s railway project — known as the King Abdulaziz Project for Public Transport — and will handle the procurement, operation and maintenance of the buses, Saptco said in a statement.

Saptco had previously said that it has teamed up with France’s Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) to bid for public transport projects in Saudi.

The Saudi government had awarded $22.5 billion in contracts to three foreign-led consortia in July last year for the design and construction of the first metro rail system in Riyadh.