Technical and engineering teams of the Rail Agency at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai are continuing technical site visits to several European countries. These visits aim to track the work progress and review the latest developments in the manufacturing of a wide range of sophisticated technologies relating to Route 2020 Project.

Abdul Redha Abu Al Hassan, Executive Director of Rail Projects Planning and Development at RTA’s Rail Agency said, “The Agency has recently paid technical visits to several European countries. In Germany, a visit was made to the factory of ABB Electric Systems (33 KV Switchgear) for low and medium voltage. Another visit was paid to PEHLA Lab to conduct technical tests on systems being manufactured to verify their compliance with the reports of the Project Consultant and Contractor as well as their conformity with the contractual and international specifications. After verification and endorsement, these items will be shipped to the project site in Dubai.

The second visit was to Switzerland to one of the specialised international factories in the production of Electric Cables (BRUGG) according to tailor-made specifications. A 7-meter sample of these cables was taken for testing in one of the internationally accredited labs to verify its compliance with the reports of the Project Consultant and Contractor. Tests will also include compliance with the international specifications such as the degree of tolerance of fire heat and resistance to water pressure along with the associated times and the tolerance of intake during installation.

The third visit was to UK, namely QUALITOL Factory, to inspect the manufacturing phases of devices for reporting errors and warnings of electrical systems at the station. These devices are considered one of the best globally used systems and had been experimented and tested at the factory before being transported to a neutral world-class lab to match the test results to the expected results. The objective is to eliminate potential variations in decisions as stipulated in the contract, and ensure compliance with the international specifications in terms of permissible power storage and accuracy rate.

It is noteworthy that RTA has accomplished 35% of construction works in the said power stations. State-of-the-art technologies were used in electrical and electronic systems besides the use of environment-friendly materials. As per the project timeline, the building and operation of those stations will be accomplished by the end of November 2018.