RTA and Serco extend Dh680 million service contract till 2021

Dubai: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has extended its contract with the British firm Serco Group for the operation and maintenance of the Dubai Metro until September 2021.

The new contract also covers the Dubai Metro Red Line Extension Project, dubbed Route 2020.

This extension spans 15 kilometres and connects seven stations — five elevated and two underground — and the testing of the service is expected to start in February 2020.

The Dubai Metro lines currently have a network length of 75 kilometres, which will increase to 90 kilometres with the Red Line expansion and will have over 120 trains running at peak times.

The total value of the fixed base fee for the two-year contract is around Dh680 million.

Mattar Al Tayer, director-general of the RTA, signed the contract on behalf of the RTA, while Rupert Soames, Serco Group CEO represented Serco during the signing ceremony.

“Serco has delivered operational performance levels in the Dubai Metro,” said Al Tayer, “with a high train service availability of 99.9 per cent and a punctuality of 99.8 per cent, achieving a record of 204 million journeys in 2018.”

The RTA’s introduction of cutting edge technologies had “also contributed to achieving these indicators,” he added.