The first consignment of buses assembled in Turkey is expected to arrive in Dushanbe soon, Tajik Minister of Transport Khudoyor Khudoyorzoda told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, Tajikistan has purchased 40 Isuzu buses assembled in Turkey for Dushanbe.

“In the summer, we plan to purchase 24 more Isuzu bases from Turkey,” the minister said. 

Recall, Dushanbe authorities intend to remove fixed-route minivans from the city streets in the first half of 2017.

They are expected to replace them with buses and trolleybuses; private taxies will also remain in the city.

According to Dushanbenaqliyotkhizmatrason (public transport service), 3,616 minivans are currently running in the city.  2,973 of them are working contractually and the remaining 643 belong to unitary municipal enterprises.

Meanwhile, only 153 of 417 buses and 72 of 116 trolleybuses existing in Dushanbe are currently running in the city.