MOVING about in Mauritius is now easier. And that has been made possible by the Mauritius Metro, being constructed by the Railways Strategic Business Group of L&T’s Transportation Infrastructure arm.
While L&T commissioned the Phase-1 of Mauritius Metro – Port Louis to Rose Hill – in October 2019; this March it has commissioned the Phase-2A. This latest phase takes the Metro further – from Rose Hill to Quatre Bornes – a distance of 2.4 km. The trial train run on Phase-2A was conducted on 31 March, marking the integration of the track and the traction systems with the Phase-1 stretch that runs for 12.56 km.
Mr Alan Ganoo (Minister for Land Transport & Light Rail, Mauritius) and Mr Dev Beekharry (Board Director and Sr Advisor to the Prime Minister of Mauritius), Mr Das Mootanah (CEO – Metro Express Ltd), Mr A K Singh (PD – RITES) and Mr Sanjeev Gupta (PD – MLRT) were aboard the trial train.
The trial run covered entire 4.9 track km between Rose Hill and Quatre Bornes. The enthusiasm of common Mauritians was clearly visible as they lined both sides of the track in hundreds, waving to welcome the first Metro train on the Phase-2A stretch.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ganoo said: “We have crossed another important landmark in this mega project of Mauritius and today this trial run proves once again that the works are progressing fast to realise the vision of the Prime Minister. Without the Indian Government’s support, this project would never be a reality for Mauritius. We are grateful to the Government of India and the excellent progress made by Larsen & Toubro, despite this pandemic situation.”
Commercial train services on the new stretch began in June. To read the fascinating story about how L&T is constructing this greenfield Metro railway project in Mauritius, visit
https://bit.ly/3l73OAI
