UAE: Serco Group has signed a two-year extension of its contract to operate and maintain the Dubai metro, the company announced on April 1.
The 680m dirham extension covers operations and maintenance of the two metro lines in the city until September 2021. This includes the operation and maintenance of the Route 2020 Red Line extension from Nakheel Harbour & Tower to the Expo 2020 site. Testing on the 15 km extension is expected to start in February 2020, with passenger services commencing ahead of Expo 2020, which begins in October. Once this extension opens, the metro would have 120 trains in operation at peak times.
Serco has operated Dubai’s two metro lines since their respective openings in 2009 and 2011. In 2012 its remit was expanded to add engineering and maintenance responsibilities, and in 2013 the contract was extended for five years to September 2019, with an option for a further two years.
‘Serco has delivered operational performance levels on the Dubai Metro with a high train service availability of 99·9% and a punctuality of 99·8%, achieving a record of 204 million journeys in 2018’, said Dubai Roads & Transport Authority Director-General Mattar Al Tayer.
Serco also operates the Dubai tramway under a separate 105m dirham contract signed in September 2013.
