HOOK (dpa-AFX) - Outsourcing and support services provider Serco Group Plc. (SRP.L) announced Monday that it has signed a contract extension to operate and maintain Dubai Metro to 2021 including Red Line expansion. The total value of the fixed base fee for the contract extension is around 680 million United Arab Emirates Dirham, equivalent to about 140 million pounds.
The two-year contract extension with the Roads and Transport Authority or RTA to continue operating and maintaining the Dubai Metro is until September 2021.
The contract extension includes the operation and maintenance of the Red Line expansion which is currently under construction. The test-run of the expanded service is expected to start in February 2020 in readiness for full operation ahead of Expo 2020 which begins in October.
Serco first began operating and maintaining the initial ten stations on the Red Line from the official opening of the Dubai Metro in 2009. Expansion of the Metro has seen the Red Line grow to 29 stations, while the Green Line, opened in 2011, added an additional 20 stations.
The Red Line expansion for Expo 2020 adds 15 kilometres and connects seven stations. At that point, the Dubai Metro will have a total network length of 90 kilometres and over 120 trains running at peak times.
Serco said its more than 2,000 employees on the Dubai Metro continue to deliver excellent operational performance and record numbers of passenger journeys.
Serco has delivered operational performance levels on the Dubai Metro with a high train service availability of 99.9% and a punctuality of 99.8%, achieving a record of 204 million journeys in 2018.
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