RTA officials at the signing cermony.

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has awarded a Dh10.6-billion ($2.9 billion) contract to a consortium led by France's Alstom to expand the city's metro system to the Expo 2020 site.

The ‘Route 2020’ project contract for extending the Red Line of the Dubai Metro was awarded to  Expolink Consortium - which besides Alstom comprises Spanish builder Acciona and Turkey's Gulermak - after winning approval from HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said a statement from RTA.

Sheikh Mohammed gave directions for the immediate start of the project work as it will also act as a critical line in serving the needs of demographic growth in the localities surrounding the metro track.

"The construction of the Route 2020 is envisioned in Dubai 2021 Plan for achieving sustainable development, providing an improved world-class infrastructure and services," stated Mattar Al Tayer, the director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of RTA, at a press conference to announce the contract award.

It was also attended by Henri Poupart-Lafarge, the chairman and chief executive of Alstom and Abdul Mohsen Ibrahim Younes, the CEO of RTA Rail Agency.

"The move comes in implementation of RTA Strategic Plan 2021 aimed at providing mass transit systems including metro and tramlines, buses, and marine transit services towards realizing RTA’s vision of Safe & Smooth Transport for All,” he stated.

According to him, the Alstom-consortium was selected through an international tendering process involving the participation of 10 consortiums of major firms specialised in the construction of metro systems from all parts of the globe.

"Five of them submitted technical and financial proposals, and negotiations were made with two of them in the final stage; which concluded to awarding of the project contract to Expolink Consortium," he added.

As per the contract, Alstom will supply 50 trains: 15 of them for serving Expo, and 35 for upgrading the level of service of the Dubai Metro.

The company will also cater to electromechanical works, while the French Thales Group will provide the technological systems and Acciona and Gulermack will attend to civil works, stated Al Tayer.

"The RTA has set governance and assessment principles for Route 2020 project to ensure transparency and achieve the best results that ensure the fruition of the vision of Dubai underlining the hosting of Expo 2020," he added.

Speaking about linking Route 2020 with the Red Line, Al Tayer said: “It starts off Nakheel Harbour & Tower Station on the Red Line and extends 15 km: 11.8 km a viaduct, and 3.2 km underground track. The project encompasses seven stations including a transfer station with the Red Line, Expo Station, three elevated stations, and two underground stations."

According to him, the RTA has mapped out a master plan for roads and transport projects to serve Expo 2020 and one of them is Route 2020.

It has co-ordinated with all developers, and government service providers of concern with the planned metro route in order to ensure that Route 2020 will provide support to vital areas served by the project over the short and long terms."

The plan was tailored to achieve sustainability in the project such that the route will link the exhibition yard with several projects and vital communities with high population density of up to 270,000 persons such as The Gardens, Discovery Gardens, Al Furjan, Jumeirah Golf Estates and the Dubai Investment Park.

The capacity of Route 2020 is estimated at 46,000 riders per hour in both directions (23 thousand riders per hour per direction). According to RTA studies, the ridership of Route 2020 is expected to reach 125 thousand riders per day in 2020; and the number is set to rise to 275 thousand riders per day by 2030.

On the timeline of the project construction, Al Tayer said: "Work on the project will start in the final quarter of this year, and the trial run is expected to begin in the last quarter of 2019."

"The official operation of the service is set to start in the second half of 2020 namely on 20/05/2020 i.e. five months ahead of the opening of Expo 2020," he added.-TradeArabia News Service