“For many residents living on the Macau peninsula, especially around Sai Van lake and the Barra to Red Market and Green Island areas and employed on Cotai, having a light rail connection from Barra to Taipa is expected to be a game changer when it comes to commuting to work. From their homes they can take a bus, taxi or drive to the Barra terminal and then pick up the light rail which will take them to all the hotel-casino properties, plus the airport, Taipa ferry pier and eventually down to the Coloane and Hengqin stations” Suzanne Watkinson
Macau Business. 10 March. By Aries Un.
Public works authorities said that they had already begun a trial run for the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) section between Taipa and Barra on the Macau Peninsula after installing a connecting passage beneath the Sai Van Bridge.
In an update released recently, the Public Works Bureau said that the LRT section linking Taipa’s network to the Barra transport nexus, which was built in 2020 after about five years of construction work, would come into operation as soon as later this year if the ongoing trial proved to be successful.
Although the project for the Barra complex completed in 2020, it was not until last year its LRT station was built – with a price tag of about MOP1.18 billion – after the Covid pandemic and bad weather conditions delayed the project by over two months.
Another line designed to link the other side of the Macau peninsula to Taipa – known as the east line – is expected to be complete by 2028.
Another two lines, which seek to expand the existing Taipa network further towards Coloane and Hengqin, are slated for completion by 2025, according to an initial plan drawn up by the authorities.
In spite of being a mega investment, the train system’s Taipa network only recorded 4,750 passengers per day last month – which, however, is the highest figure three years after its inaugural ride.
