Republic of Mauritius- Metro Express Project on track and on time, reassures Minister Bodha

He was speaking at a press conference held, yesterday, in Port Louis on the status of progress regarding the project whereby he announced that the first train, Light Rail Vehicle (LRV), Urbos 100 3rd generation LRVs, to be acquired by Metro Express Ltd, is currently being manufactured in Spain and will be delivered by August 2019.

The Infrastructure Minister emphasised that he personally conducted, during his recent mission in Spain, a visit on the site of the manufacture of the first LRV Urbos for Mauritius to be named Maurisso. According to him, Mauritius has opted for the more sophisticated, innovative and high-quality trains, specifically designed by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) so as to offer the end user a unique traveling experience with a built-in modern security system.

He further pointed out that CAF will supply a fleet of 18 Urbos light rail vehicles to operate the Metro Express light rail line. The LRV train will be of a width of 2.65 kms, length of 50 m and 3.2 kms in height and comprising of 5 wagons and 7 compartments. The train will operate at a speed of 20-25km/h up to a peak of 50 km/h and the first LRV is expected in Mauritius in mid July 2019 for tests, he added.

The Minister underlined that Metro Express Limited will initially be assisted by the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise/Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SCE/SMRT), for the provision of Operation Readiness Services, namely in the recruitment and training of local staff and in setting up the operation and maintenance procedure for the Light Rail System.

As for the recruitment of staff, Minister Bodha pointed out that some 50 persons will be recruited to operate the trains namely: 30 train captains, 12 stewards, 6 ticketing inspectors and 2 ticketing officers.  He further gave his assurance that priority will be given to those employees operating in the public transport industry.

He concluded by stating that the Metro Express remains one of the major components under the National Transport Network project which will integrate the road transport system while bringing major transformation to the public transport system, involving reengineering of bus routes and schedules along with urban development through the modernisation of bus terminals.