Serco put in 50,000 training days for metro staff

Dubai Metro staff have been put through the equivalent of more than 50,000 training days to be ready for the opening of the project, the operating company said on Thursday.

Serco said its team in Dubai had been working for two years as part of the build up to the inauguration.

During that time it had delivered an in-depth programme of over 50,000 training days to equip some 3,000 employees with the safety and technical skills needed to deliver a world class and safe railway, the company said in a statement.

Serco Group began its operation of the Dubai Metro service following the official opening and inauguration by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, on Wednesday night.

Initially the service will serve 10 stations on the Red Line - including Terminal 3 (Dubai International Airport), the Financial Centre and the Mall of the Emirates.

The remaining stations on the Red Line will be opened in phases over the next few months and will be completed in early 2010.

Serco will run the Operations Control Centre, provide train attendants and all the staff at the stations as well as operating and maintaining the Metro infrastructure and rolling stock.

The system will be operating initially with ten stations on the Red Line with a capacity of 3,500 passengers every hour. When fully operational the Metro will carry over 1.2million passengers on an average day.

Nick Brown, chief executive of Serco Integrated Transport & Middle East, said: "Serco...is proud to be working in partnership with the RTA to deliver a safe and secure system. It will be one of the most advanced urban rail systems in the world and the cornerstone of the RTA's vision for an integrated public transport system for Dubai."

Serco already has experience operating driverless Metro systems and has successfully operated, since 1997, the Docklands Light Railway in London as well operating the driverless Copenhagen Metro.