Emirates: Dubai’s transport authority has awarded a 15-year contract to a French-Japanese consortium for the maintenance and operation of the city’s train systems.

The contract, valued at around $147 million, was awarded to three companies — Keolis, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, and Mitsubishi Corp. — after a public tender organized by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The group will assume its duties under the contract on Sept. 8, 2021.

“The consortium shall undertake the operation and maintenance services of the Dubai Metro Red and Green lines as well as Route 2020,” Mattar Mohammed Al-Tayer, director general of the RTA, said in a press release carried by the Dubai Media Office.

“It will also cater to the operation of Dubai Tram, and all assets of the metro and tram networks including trains, control centers, stations and the associated infrastructure.”

The group will also be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the automated metro and fare systems, Al-Tayer said, adding that outsourcing the city’s rail operations was in line with Dubai’s wider efforts to increase efficiency of public services, following international standards.

“The outsourcing of metro and tram operation and maintenance is a common global practice across famous metro lines in cities like London, Singapore, Paris and Sydney,” he said.