The 9.15am express service is heading into Victoria station. But this is somewhere in the Indian Ocean, not central London. The station is at the waterfront of Port Louis, the capital of the small island state of Mauritius.
Mauritius (MU) and Malta (MT) make excellent comparisons, on many fronts.
English is an official language. Each is a multi-island jurisdiction, with Gozo (in MT) and Rodrigues (in MU) serving as unique electoral districts.
While Malta is one sixth the land area of Mauritius, and around half its population, their economies produce a similar annual gross domestic product.
Both were occupied by France before being taken over by Britain in the early 19th century.
The archipelago states have seen their economic fortunes rise and fall. Located between continents, their main ports – now their capital cities – ushered in an era of prosperity driven by mercantilism, revictualling, shipbuilding and ship repair.
Two-thirds of their respective populations live in the capitals and their immediate suburbs. Both territories dabbled with cash crops for export for some time (cotton for MT; sugar for MU), secured independence in the 1960s, ventured successfully into tourism and light manufacturing (garments and textiles) driven by foreign direct investment, witnessed rapid economic growth and are investing heavily in knowledge driven services.
Immigrants have come in to work in cutting-edge economic sectors such as finance, insurance and information technology.
Governments have been stable, with two broad coalitions taking turns in office, now with hardly any ideological differences.
Driving is on the left and the power supply and electrical plugs and sockets follow British standards.
The challenge of mass public transit is a policy area which calls for critical comparison.
Both Malta and Mauritius abandoned their railways in the 20th century. They have since witnessed the rapid rise of affluent middle classes, for whom a private vehicle is an important status and ‘quality of life’ symbol, as well as a badge of individual freedom.
Within their urban conurbations, and in spite of various new roads or road widening projects, traffic congestion can be notorious, especially at peak times.
Over many years of public debate in Mauritius, the idea of a light rail rapid transit system has been mooted, with the main concern being the huge capital outlay required up front.
Advice was sought and secured from fellow small island state Singapore, which has had a successful mass transit system in place for some time.
In the short period that it has been in operation, ‘The Metro’ has proven to be safe, efficient and punctual- Godfrey Baldacchino
The decision to build a metro system above ground was finally taken in 2016.
The winning tender was secured in 2017 by an Indian firm, Larsen & Toubro, for US$557 million, with almost half of this cost covered by a grant from the Government of India. The Singapore Cooperation Enterprise serves as overall project consultant.
The complete main line, running through the main urban settlements of the country, from Port Louis to Curepipe, is 26 kilometres long and has 19 stops.
In spite of some COVID-related delays, including two national lockdowns, the main line should be complete by the end of 2022.
Take-up of the metro service in Mauritius is yet to improve. In spite of regular disinfection of seats and handrails, and the compulsory wearing of face masks, the onset of COVID-19 has dampened the locals’ enthusiasm towards all forms of mass public transport. Residents still turn to their private vehicles for safety and security.
This is bound to change. Consumer confidence should improve as the pandemic shifts to endemic and the ‘new normal’ establishes itself.
In the short period that it has been in operation, ‘The Metro’ has proven to be safe, efficient and punctual.
Its platforms are state-of-the-art, the carriages clean and the seats comfortable.
Metro officials are available to assist in the purchase or validation of tickets from the machines available on each platform.
The principle of intermodal transport prevails, such that various metro stations have a bus terminus plus taxi stands, bicycle racks and private car parking, to facilitate switching from one mode of mobility to another.
Shopping malls alongside metro stations (and including Victoria Station in Port Louis) are intended to enhance the consumer experience and generate additional economic activity along the whole metro corridor.
The cost of each (one-way) metro journey is the same as that of a bus trip: 30 Mauritian rupees, which is about €0.55c. For regular users, cards are available, further slashing the cost per journey. The service is subsidised to encourage additional patronage.
A 3.4km branch of the main line is planned, serving CyberCity (MU’s equivalent of MT’s SmartCity) as well as the campus of the University of Mauritius.
More details at: https://mauritiusmetroexpress.mu/?lang=en.
Godfrey Baldacchino Malta Ambassador-at-Large for Islands and Small States, is professor of sociology at the University of Malta. He is currently visiting professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities, University of Mauritius.