09:08 PM
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Alexandria – Mohamed Amer:
Major General Muhammad al-Sharif, Governor of Alexandria, witnessed this evening, Wednesday, the launch of the first 10 buses that were converted from diesel to run on natural gas, as part of the state’s plan to reduce harmful emissions to preserve the environment and save huge sums of money spent annually from the state budget.
Al-Sharif revealed that 10 buses were converted from diesel fuel to work with natural gas, and they will be launched to operate in the streets of the city starting tomorrow morning, Thursday, as part of the first phase that includes the conversion of 50 buses out of a total of 300 buses that will be converted within 6 years, in a number of stages by 50 buses per stage.
The governor of Alexandria explained that the plan of the Passenger Transport Authority in the governorate coincides with the state’s plan to reduce emissions, rely on local fuel and rationalize expenditures, as the diesel-powered bus consumes about 250 liters of diesel as an average daily consumption, and the current price of diesel is 7.25 pounds, and gas consumes about 200 meters. cubic meter per day, on average, and the price of gas is about 3.5 pounds, thus saving huge amounts of money per day, in addition to the savings in the subsidies that the state subsidizes for diesel.
Al-Sharif added that the authority has 4 natural gas supply stations of its own, these buses will be fueled through 3 natural gas supply stations located in the authority’s garages, in addition to allocating a station for the public, and two stations are being established for the public as well.
He pointed out that the modification works of buses for natural gas instead of diesel also include work to raise the efficiency of buses internally and externally, adding that the protocol that is being implemented includes training technicians on periodic maintenance work, according to the instructions of the engine manufacturer and with original spare parts, in order to keep the buses operating at the highest efficiency.
He explained that this comes within the implementation of the cooperation protocol that was signed with each of the Ministries of Finance, Military Production, Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and the Public Transport Authority in Cairo and Alexandria.
Engineer Mohamed Zakaria, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Passenger Transport Authority in Alexandria, said that maintenance work will be carried out in the authority’s garages in Alexandria and under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Military Production, and the necessary spare parts for repair work for engines and the natural gas system will be purchased for a period of 15 years.
It is noteworthy that this also comes within the framework of implementing a project to modify 2262 buses to operate with natural gas instead of diesel in Cairo and Alexandria, as the Public Transport Authority in Cairo is allocated 1962 buses and Alexandria 300 buses, provided that the implementation takes place over a period of 6 fiscal years starting from the year 2021/2022 and will be The duration of the implementation phases is 12 months for each phase, while the first phase takes 15 months.
