A limited ministerial council was held on Wednesday July 23 at the Government Palace under the chairmanship of the government’s head, Sarra Zaâfrani Zenzri, to take stock of the situation of public transport and announce a series of urgent and strategic measures. The displayed objective: to rebuild a real national transport policy after decades of degradation.
The ministerial council was entirely devoted to the refoundation of public transport, in particular land transport, which is experiencing advanced degradation on a national level, the objective being to modernize the public transport service and to improve its performance in order to alleviate the difficulties encountered by citizens in their trips.
The Council examined the arrival calendars of several bus lots from different countries pending a more global reform in this vital sector, practically dismantled in several regions of the country.
Renew the rolling stock
The government’s heading has notably stressed that the reform of the transport sector, all sectors combined – and in particular land transport – will not be limited to the import of bus or metro trains, but will obey a global reconstruction strategy. With this in mind, a clear long -term planning vision will be set up with the allocation of the budgets necessary for investment in this sector.
Sarra Zaâfrani Zenzri said that the state strategy consists in rebuilding the public transport system on solid bases, renewing the rolling stock and improving the services of the public transport service. In the short term, urgent solutions will be implemented to alleviate the mobility difficulties of citizens throughout the national territory, in parallel with the investments necessary to renew an aging bus and metros park.
Towards the integration of more than 1,300 buses in the public network
The Council reviewed the main urgent measures already adopted to strengthen the land transportation park as the purchase of 300 new buses from Chinadelivered on June 17 and July 12, 2025; the signature of a contract for the acquisition of 418 buses as part of an international call for tenders; the upcoming signature, in September 2025, of an agreement for the importation of 200 Operational Swiss Bus ; the launch of a call for tenders for the acquisition of 35 metro trains; and authorization, during this advice, of the purchase of 397 additional buses from Saudi Arabia.
These acquisitions will be distributed throughout the territory, according to priority criteria, in particular to open up isolated areas and reduce the suffering linked to daily transport.
Reconstruct a reliable public transport system
The government’s chef insisted that this dynamic will not be limited to occasional imports. She said that the State is engaged in a long -term strategy aimed at reconstructing a reliable, efficient and sustainable public transport system, modernizing the park rolling according to international standards, investing in rail transport, identified as a priority, and adapting the offer to demographic developments and rapid urbanization.
Public transport in Tunisia suffers from decades of underinvestment, deficient management and obsolescence of equipment. This alarming observation is aggravated by the explosion of mobility needs, especially in large agglomerations and rural regions.
The government now claims to want to break with past policies and initiate a deep reform, where transportation becomes a lever for social justice and economic growth.
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