Aleppo – North-Press Agency
Ali al-Agha
The reopening of the Aleppo-Damascus M5 highway was a major change for the residents of the city of Aleppo. With the reopening of M5 highway on February 11, the people of Aleppo expected a decline in ticket prices between Aleppo and Damascus, but the price of a single ticket from Aleppo to Damascus still remains at the previous rate of 4,000 Syrian pounds.
In an interview with North-Press, Muhammad Wazzan, director of the Farah Transport Company, attributed the main reason for the lack of reduction of ticket prices to diesel prices and the limited allocations of buses, because gas stations in Aleppo do not give more than 200 liters to each bus per trip. The bus consumes 320 liters per trip, forcing the company to supply diesel from black markets, where the price of one liter reaches 450 Syrian pounds. This is in addition to high cost of buses’ spare parts, according to him.
The reopening of the M5 highway contributed to the shortening of time and distance from 470 km to 360 km; buses now travel the distance in about 5 hours.
However, the director of a transport company, who preferred not to be named, told North-Press that Syrian government forces checkpoints extort money from travelers.
Meanwhile, Muhammad al-Mast, director of the Ali al-Sarraj Company, said: "Keeping the ticket price a little high is due to high maintenance fees; replacing an engine costs five to six million Syrian pounds, and also due to high wages of drivers and escorts, as well as other costs.”
For his part, Bilal Lolo, director of the Aleppo Bus Station, said the reason for the high price of the tickets was the high prices of spare parts and bus oil.
Lolo added that the Ministry of Transport is working on defining a new price within the next few days, according to what the Syrian Minister of Transport has promised.