RTA awards 10-year Metro deal

CONTRACT ANNOUNCED: The RTA has awarded the Dubai Metro operations and maintenance contract to UK company Serco. (Getty Images)

The operational needs of the Dubai Metro will generate over 3,200 new jobs, with up to 50% of the positions to be filled by UAE nationals, the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) announced on Monday.

The RTA has awarded the 10-year operation and maintenance contract for the Dubai Metro to UK firm Serco.

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 2.9 billion dirhams ($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 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.

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.

The RTA is planning up to eight metro lines that will link major destinations across the emirate.

The authority is also yet to announce the fare prices for a journey on the trains, which are predicted to carry 200 million passengers per year.

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