Operation tests in preparation for the upcoming running of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Taipa-Barra section will start later this month, the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) has announced.
The government has reaffirmed that the Taipa-Barra section is scheduled to open at the end of this year.
The construction of the LRT station at Barra, which got off the ground in 2018, was completed in February this year.
The LRT Taipa-Barra section will connect Taipa and Barra at the southernmost tip of the peninsula via Sai Van Bridge.
Currently, the LRT only operates on the 9.3-kilometre-long Taipa section which includes Cotai. The Taipa-Cotai section, which started operating on December 10, 2019, has 11 stations.
The first LRT section that will connect Taipa and the peninsula will run from Ocean station, the western terminus of the LRT Taipa section, to the south-western tip of the peninsula near A-Ma Temple.
LRT Ocean station is located near Ocean Gardens. The LRT Taipa-Barra section will run along the lower enclosed deck of the Macau-Taipa Sai Van Bridge.
Train operation tests on the LRT Taipa-Barra section already started early this year. The tests have been carried out in three phases.
A DSOP statement on Friday noted that the first phase of the train operation tests started around the middle of January. The statement said that the tests in the first and second phases were carried out on 96 nights during the LRT system’s non-service hours, adding that the tests lasted a total of around 264 hours.
According to the statement, the ongoing third phase of the train operation tests is now expected to be completed later this month.
According to previous DSOP announcements, the first phase of the train operation tests was carried out in Barra station and the lower enclosed deck of Sai Van Bridge, after which the tests were extended to Ocean station, the western terminus of the LRT Taipa section, in the second phase.
The third phase of the train operations tests has been carried out throughout the current Taipa section and the Taipa-Barra section, according to previous DSOP announcements.
The train operation tests on the LRT Taipa-Barra section have been carried out by the Public Works Bureau in collaboration with Macau Light Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (MLM), the government-owned LRT operator.
According to Friday’s statement, operation tests in preparation for the running of the LRT Taipa-Barra section will start later this month.
The statement also said that after the upcoming tests start later this month, the new Barra station will be added to the screens displaying the LRT route on the trains and at the stations.
This undated handout photo released by the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) last week shows staff carrying out train operation tests at the Light Rail Transit (LRT) operation control centre.
