DUBAI  - Dubai's Road and Transport authority said on Saturday it had awarded a $147 million (AED542 million) contract for the operation and maintenance of its rail services to a French-Japanese consortium.

The contract for the operation and maintenance of Dubai's metro and tram systems runs for 15 years, with nine initially and a 6 year extension, from September 2021.

The consortium includes Keolis, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering and Mitsubishi Corporation. The award of the contract follows a public tender released by the RTA, the Dubai authority said in a statement. ($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham)

(Reporting by Raya Jalabi; Editing by Alexander Smith) ((Raya.Jalabi@thomsonreuters.com;))