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| Edited By: |Source: Reuters |Updated: Mar 17, 2018, 03:04 AM IST
Construction of Dubai metro's first rail line is scheduled for completion in April, and the second in August 2011, the transport authority said on Saturday.
Building works restarted this month after a settlement was reached with the Japanese-led consortium behind the project over about $2-3 billion in disputed payments, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
The fully automated metro network had an original completion target of this spring.
Construction of 18 unfinished stations on the system's main line and another 18 on an unopened line started again on Feb 7, the FT said on its website citing contractors.
"The contractor of Dubai Metro Project, Dubai Rail Link (DURL) Consortium, is set to complete all the remaining works in the stations on the Red Line (18 stations) on 25 April 2010," the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said in a statement, citing chairman Mattar al-Tayer.
"...all works in the stations on the Green Line will be completed in August 2011," he added.
The Japanese consortium members are Obayashi Corp, Kajima Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and trading house Mitsubishi Corp. The consortium also includes Turkey's Yapi Merkezi Insaat Ve Sanat AS.
On Feb 17, Obayashi Corp spokesman Kiyoshi Takahashi said the company was still in talks with the Dubai government about the payments, and that construction had never stopped.
Construction slowed as costs increased due to design changes, Obayashi told Reuters in January.
The world's longest automated rail system will probably cost $7.6 billion, or 80% more than originally planned, Dubai government officials said last year.
Tayer said in the statement the metro was a priory project.
"RTA will provide the biggest portion of cash injections out of its budget...to cover the cost of the additional works on the red and green lines," he said.
