Dubai, 01 April 2019: Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has signed a contract extending the operation and maintenance of the Dubai Metro with the British Serco Group until September 2021. The new contract covers the operation & maintenance of the Dubai Metro Red Line Extension Project (Route 2020). This extension spans 15 km and connects 7 stations (5 elevated and 2 underground), and the test-run of the service is expected to start in February 2020.

The Dubai Metro lines currently have a network length of 75 km, which will increase to 90 km 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 680 million dirhams (equivalent to about 140 million sterling pounds).
HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, signed the Contract on behalf of RTA; and Hon. Rupert Soames, Serco Group Chief Executive Officer represented Serco during the signing ceremony. Attending the ceremony were Baroness Rona Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade & Export Promotion and HE Patrick Moody, British ambassador to the UAE.

Serco has delivered operational performance levels in the Dubai Metro with a high train service availability of 99.9% and punctuality of 99.8%, achieving a record of 204 million journeys in 2018. RTAs introduction of edge-cutting technologies of the rail operation industry also contributed to achieving these indicators, said Al Tayer.

Rupert Soames, Serco Group Chief Executive, said: We are delighted to have agreed this extended and expanded contract to continue operating and maintaining the Dubai Metro, which is amongst the largest and most reliable rail services in the world. We look forward to working in close partnership with the RTA in support of the preparations for Expo 2020 and beyond.