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RTA awards Dubai Metro operations contract, promises 3200 new jobs.
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| 24 Mar 2008 |
Dubai Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has awarded the 10-year operation and maintenance contract for the Dubai Metro to UK services provider firm Serco, the authority said on Monday. Mattar Al Tayer, executive director of the RTA, declined to disclose the value of the contract; however in a statement last year, Serco said the contract was valued at more than US$790 million.
The contract stipulates that eventually up to 50% of Dubai Metro employees must be UAE nationals, Al Tayer said. By the end of the 10-year contract with Serco, the percentage of Emiratis employed at the Dubai Metro could be 80%, he added. Under the contract terms, Serco will run the Dubai Metro operations control centre, provide train attendants and station staff while maintaining track and station facilities.
Serco currently operates a range of metro and rail systems world-wide, including the Docklands Light Railway in London and metro systems in the US and Australia. The Dubai Metro operation will become the firm’s largest metro operation.
The first two lines of the Dubai Metro, Red and Green, are expected to have a combined length of 75 km, with the Red Line to come online in September 2009, followed by the Green Line in March 2010. The Red Line will run from Al Maktoum International Airport, around the American University, through the city centre, and to the Airport Free Zone.
The Green Line will run from Festival City, through the city centre, on to service Dubai International Airport Terminals 1 and 3, and on to Rashidiya, and a 47 km Blue Line will run along Dubai's busy Emirates Road, although the exact route is currently unknown.
The fourth service, a 49 km Purple Line that will connect Dubai International Airport with the planned Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, will be added later.
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