The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that a British company will be contracted to operate the Dubai Tram system under construction, with the six-year contract worth Dh105 million.
The 14.6-kilometre stretch of tramway along Al Sufouh Road, which begins in Dubai Marina, will be operated by the British government services company Serco. The contract allows for 15 months preparation and a further five years operation which includes recruitment and training of employees.
Serco also runs the Dubai Metro, a light railway system in London, rail services in the north of England, railways in Australia, and ferry services in Scotland and England.
The agreement was signed by the RTA executive director Mattar Al Tayer and Serco’s Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia CEO David Campbell.
Al Tayer reaffirmed RTA’s commitment to help boost the profile of Dubai as a modern metropolis that has all the ingredients of advancement and modernity, including state-of-the-art mass transit.
“Serco has been selected for the operation of the Dubai Tram system following a tender put out by the RTA for which a bunch of world-class companies specialized in rail operation and maintenance have taken part. Serco has been nominated for submitting the best offer, and the company has experience in operating and maintaining a number of metro and rail lines across Europe and Australia,” Al Tayer said.
The contract states all the workforce will be transferred to the RTA or RTA-nominated party at the conclusion of the contract.
Trams, which have been tested out for quality in France, are due to start arriving in Dubai in December, in preparation for the launch of the tram service in November 2014.
The system which will have an initial 11 trams before another 14 are added, is expected to lift about 27,000 riders per day at the start of operations, with ridership expected to hit 66,000 riders per day by 2020.
