Rapid Link, a  consortium of three Japanese companies – Mitsubishi, Obayashi and Kajima and the Turkish, Yapi Merkesi – presented the lowest bid at Dh6.285 billion ($1.85 million) for carrying out the civil and electro-mechanical works on the first phase of the Dubai Light Rail project.

Dubai Municipality opened the base offers for the first phase of its much-awaited Dubai Light Rail Transit (LRT), late last month.
Qassim Sultan, director general of Dubai Municipality and chairman of the Higher Committee of the Dubai LRT, said: “These are preliminary offers and a technical team comprising members of the project consultant, Systra, and the LRT committee, will evaluate the offers technically, financially and contractually before announcing final winners.”
Sultan noted that opening the tenders in public was done in order to show that the project is being undertaken in full transparency. “We want representatives of each consortium as well as media persons to be present in this event so as to show that the deal is being done transparently,” he said.
He noted that at present all options are open including the ways to fund the project.
The first phase of Dubai LRT project, which would cover 35 km from Rashidiya to the American University in Dubai (AUD), is expected to be completed by May 2009. The 32-km second phase from AUD to Jebel Ali would be over by May 2012. It will have two lines with the 51-km Red Line taking 66 minutes at a speed of 46 km per hour while the 16-km Green Line taking 29 minutes at a speed of 33 km per hour.
 The trains will carry as many as 23,000 passengers per hour per direction with a possible expansion to 27,500 passengers in future.