Dubai: Serco, a UK-based international service company, has been awarded the operation and maintenance contract for the Dubai Metro for the first 10 years.
The company will provide operation and maintenance services to all assets of the Dubai Metro system, including trains, railway tracks, stations and associated facilities during the duration of the contract.
The company will also provide transit services to integrate other forms of transports with the metro network, operate the metro revenue system and collect revenues by selling and top up of metro cards on behalf of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority.
The company will be responsible for the operation of the metro company for 10 years and maintenance for seven years as the first three year maintenance will be done by DURL Consortium - contractors for construction of Dubai Metro.
"The operator was finalised after eight months of hectic work," said Mattar Al Tayer, chairman and Chief Executive of RTA.
The selection of Serco comes after a public tender floated by the RTA, to which several global companies specialising in rail operation and maintenance had applied. "Following analysis of submitted bids, the offer of Serco Co. was nominated as the best bid. The company has experience in operating and maintaining a number of metro and rail lines in the UK, Denmark and Australia,'' said Al Tayer.
The agreement was signed yesterday between the RTA and Serco officials following the approval from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The RTA is currently carrying out the construction of 74.6 metro system consisting of the Red and the Green Lines at the cost of Dh15.5 billion. The Red Line will be operational from September, 9, 2009 while the Green Line will be ready by March 21, 2010.
Jobs
The company will also provide job opportunities to UAE nationals and achieve a certain 20 to 30 per cent Emiratisation within five years of commencing operations.
"We will have around 80 per cent of UAE nationals trained to run the Dubai Metro system by the end of the contract," said Al Tayer.
The company will assist the RTA in the transfer of manpower to the RTA or any other entity selected by the RTA after the expiry of the contract.
"We have awarded the operation contract to a foreign company because there is no any local experience in these fields and it is difficult to establish a technical administrative unit to cater for metro operation without resorting to an experienced body in such line of business," said Al Tayer.
He said the final outcome of this contract is to create new job opportunities for the UAE nationals, transfer the expertise of rail operation and maintenance to national cadres, and separate the role of the operating and maintenance company.
Replying to a question about the value of the contract, Abdul Majeed Khaja, chief executive officer of the Rail Agency at the RTA said the RTA and Serco has reached what he called an 'open contract'. "The company will operate and maintain the system and charge RTA as per agreed amount for spare parts and other costs on invoice bases," he said.
Christopher R Hyman, chief executive of the Serco Group, said the company would require at least 3200 employees for operating and maintaining the network. "We are happy to get this reward as it would be challenge to run the largest driverless metro system which is being built in a record time," he said.
Fare
Fares for the Metro will be announced soon as they have not been decided yet. "It will be very affordable for all and not like 'Salik' [road toll system in Dubai]," Al Tayer said.
He said students, seniors [60 years and above] and people with special needs will get special fare discounts on the Metro.
"We are developing a smart card, which people will be able to use to ride the metro, public buses, water transport and even paying for parking tickets."
Highlights: Conditions of pact
According to the operation and maintenance contract for Dubai Metro, Serco will be responsible for the following responsibilities:
Provide operation and maintenance service of all assets.
Offer commuters high class transit service compatible with daily needs.
Operate metro revenue system and collection of revenues of metro cards sale and top-ups.
Recruit and train the UAE nationals and achieve a designated Emiratisation level.
Coordinate with the construction contractor during the trial run prior to operations.
Achieve coordination and integration between metro and various transit modes
Transfer manpower to the RTA or any other entity specified by the RTA after the contract expires.
By Ashfaq Ahmed
© Gulf News 2008
