By Andy Sambidge  www.arabianbusiness.com
Transport chiefs have reduced the number of employees working for Dubai Metro operator Serco as part of a plan to cut costs, it was revealed on Tuesday.
Dubai’s Rail Agency, part of the Roads and Transport Authority, also cut back the number of daily trains in operation and reviewed maintenance processes to achieve savings of AED7.5m, state news agency WAM reported.
It said the same initiatives would apply to the Green Line of the rail system, which is due to launch in August, to achieve estimated savings of AED47m.
The measures were part of a major cost saving plan implemented in 2010, WAM said, but no further details were given on the scale of the Dubai Metro cost savings.
Adnan Al Hammadi, the CEO of RTA Rail Agency, said the company had rolled out as many as 15 different initiatives last year, aimed at slashing costs and hiking revenues.
“The majority of initiatives undertaken have been carried out in a phased manner over the year,” he added in comments published by WAM.
“There were some procedures taken as regards the contract made with the Dubai Metro operator Serco Co. in terms of reducing the number of employees, number of daily trains in operation, working hours, and maintenance processes among other steps taken on the Red Line resulting in savings of about AED7.5m,” he said.
