Future operations of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) operations will not be directly awarded to the MTR Corporation, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, assured legislators yesterday.
Rosário was at the Legislative Assembly to participate in a Q&A session with the lawmakers about the transport and public works sector yesterday afternoon.
To an inquiry from lawmaker Ella Lei on the future operation of the LRT, Rosário said, “I am not sure yet [of the plan for operations] [after the end of the contract with MTR], but I can assure you operations won’t be directly awarded to MTR,” the Secretary said.
He noted too that the process is still being evaluated.
It will examine not only the Taipa line, which is the only one currently in operation, but also the extension of this line to the Peninsula through the Sai Van Bridge and to the new Barra Station, which he also confirmed will start operating at the end of this year.
Rosário said the new operating contract will also examine another two lines planned to start operating during 2024, the Seac Pai Van line (a small extension of the Taipa line to reach the high-density residential area) and the Hengqin line that will link Macau to the mainland via LRT and will facilitate border crossing transportation.
Questioned by lawmakers about measures to incentivize use of the transport system, Rosário said linking LRT fares with the buses is impossible to enforce.
The buses have a fixed fare that is very different from the LRT fares, making it impossible to create a more convenient combined fare system.
As for attracting passengers, the Secretary reiterated, as in the past, that the major difference in passenger numbers using the LRT will only be felt after operations of the East Line begins.
This line will connect Taipa’s Pac On area to the Border Gate passing through the Zone A of the new landfills and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Post.
He said it is likely that with the start of operations of the two lines expected in 2024 (Seac Pai Van and Hengqin border), the LRT will progressively transport more people than currently.
Also questioned by lawmaker Lei on the topic, the Secretary said that even if the MTR Company has no involvement in the management and operation of the LRT after the contract ends, no worker will lose their job as the government has been planning progressively for the integration of the workers being trained from the MTR to the LRT Company.
On the same topic, he also said the number of non-local workers has been reduced over time and that the percentage of locals working in both companies is now over 85%.
Rosário noted that the extension to Barra of the Taipa line has been undergoing daily testing since the start of 2023 adding that the Transport Bureau is also working on the bus routes that will operate from the Barra Station to link the passengers from LRT to their final destinations in the Peninsula.
Without advancing any details on this work, he said that such announcements would come “soon” and before the station begins operation.
