PROPOSALS have been invited for the restoration of rail services to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, on the basis of a design-build-own-operate-transfer concession.
The government is concerned about increasing road congestion in the Port Louis - Curepipe corridor, but earlier tenders for a 27 km light rail line (RG 9.96 p548) failed to bear fruit.
The current proposal envisages the development of a 'rail-based mode of public transport' which could be light rail but might also be designed to carry freight.
The route would largely follow the alignment of the Midland line of the island's former standard-gauge network, which was closed to passengers in 1956 and abandoned in 1964.
