Dubai: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is enhancing the experience of Dubai Metro riders in partnership with Keolis-MHI, the operator of Dubai Metro and Tram, by undertaking three key projects.
“One of the advance technologies we are deploying in maintenance operations of the Dubai Metro is Sightcall, by First Line Response Teams,” said Mohammed Al Ameeri, director of maintenance at RTA’s Rail Agency. He explained: “It is an augmented reality application on mobile devices that enables live, remote expertise to support diagnosis and quick resolution of complex system faults. It proved a major driver of performance improvement since its deployment and as a result, there has been a significant reduction in response time to incidents.”
Centralised reporting
Considering Dubai Metro’s assets are spread geographically over a network of more than 90km for both Red and Green line, a portable hand-held technology to manage defects accurately, efficiently and in real-time with integration to the Maintenance Management System is in line with RTA and Dubai’s Paperless strategy.
Al Ameeri said: “The centralisation of reporting and recording is a key factor to robustly manage faults and defects on the network. Our system allows all scheduled inspection and maintenance activities to be raised directly by the technicians on to the Maintenance Management System.”
False alarms
He added: “Train Door obstacles in the railway industry is a known issue that many operators face globally, the majority of which are due to passenger accidently blocking the doors. Door obstacle reports can cause unnecessary delays which can affect our customers. Our methodology to avoid false alarms is to undertake forensic analysis through our multi-disciplinary teams and follow through with adjustment to system parameters. Consequently, there has been a significant reduction in false alarms resulting in an improvement in overall performance.”
Cost-effective methods
Al Ameeri underlined: “With innovation, we can enhance our services for continued improvement and develop new and cost-effective methods for the benefit of our passengers. Through our partnership with Keolis MHI, we are confident that this momentum can continue and provide new opportunities to excel in the field of rail transportation”
Wallace Weatherill, managing director of Dubai Metro and Tram (Keolis MHI), added: “We are committed to delivering world class customer experience - The values of ‘We Imagine, We Care and We Commit’ are an integral part of our innovative approach, combined with our ‘Think like a Passenger’ philosophy, we are confident that we can continue enhancing the passenger experience.”
