Facilities Management Middle East
WHY RTA CHOSE A NEW SERVICE OPERATOR AND A 15-YEAR MAINTENANCE CONTRACT FOR DUBAI METRO?
Abdulmohsin Ibrahim Younes, CEO of RTA's Rail Agency, spells out the details in the new operations and maintenance contract for Dubai Metro and Dubai Tram
RTA’s previous contract with FM operator Serco Middle East, which was first awarded in 2009, was of relatively short duration, which “made it difficult for the operator to make any long-term investment for improvements,” said Abdulmohsin Ibrahim Younes, CEO, RTA Rail.
Younes said: “Now with a longer contract term, this presents an opportunity for the new operator to materialise any investment for long-term improvements.”
The new operator is a French-Japanese consortium which will now carry out the operation and maintenance of the Dubai Metro as well as the operation of the Dubai Tram. The contract covers 15 years (9 base years and 6 renewable years) and amounts to approximately AED542m per annum. The consortium consists of three companies namely Keolis, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, and Mitsubishi Corporation. The award of the contract follows a public tender released by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in which four consortiums and international firms specialised in rail operation and maintenance took part.
In an exclusive interview with Facilities Management Middle East, Abdulmohsin Ibrahim Younes, CEO of RTA's Rail Agency, revealed the details in the new contract.
He said: “The new operations and maintenance (O&M) services contract is a product of a thorough tender process for the procurement of the services.”
The process included: detailed assessment of potential business models; inputs of a benchmarking exercising covering over 30 rail systems worldwide; analysis of the suitability of each model with RTA’s strategic, commercial and technical objectives being used as the key criteria for assessment of the different business models; market engagement sessions with all Bidders to market-test the shortlisted models; and consideration of the lessons-learnt over the past 11 years of contract with Serco and use of bestpractices from public and private rail entities
“This approach allowed an alignment between the expectations of the client and the market, and helped driving the success of the procurement process,” said Younes.
The key features of the new contract include improved performance & enforcement regime; optimised risk allocation; transparency of financial information including profit share mechanism; and more output-based specification, which will result in initiatives such as condition-based maintenance and overall introduction of best practices and innovation.
Talking in detail on the selection criteria and as to why the consortium was chosen, Younes revealed that the bidders were requested to demonstrate “how they will meet, and where applicable exceed, the requirements and obligations of the Metro and Tram agreements, whilst fulfilling the objectives established by the RTA”.
The criteria were based on both technical and financial submissions.
The key technical criteria were about the capability to perform mobilisation; operations for metro and tram; metro asset management and maintenance; staffing; and quality, health, safety and environment.
Younes said: “The French-Japanese consortium was chosen because it has submitted the best technical and financial offers.”
The consortium will take over operations on 8 September 2021 with preparations being made for the handover of assets and systems from Serco.