The newest addition to Macao’s Light Rapid Transit system allows passengers to travel between the peninsula and Taipa by rail for the first time.
light rail transit
Scheduled to open this Friday, the Taipa-Barra extension line will allow residents to travel between Taipa and the Macao Peninsula by rail for the very first time.
Despite an economic rebound and a surge in visitor arrivals, the average daily number of rail passengers is nothing like its pre-pandemic highs.
Work on the 2.2-kilometre-long section, designed to connect Cotai and Hengqin Island, started in March 2021.
Operation of the 1.6-kilometre line, which connects Seac Pai Van station and a station at the new Islands Healthcare Complex, is expected to begin next year.
Currently, an average of just 4,750 people a day ride the system, but the opening of new sections this year and next are expected to boost numbers.
Following the completion of Barra station, trains are now doing trial runs on the section of the LRT that will connect Taipa to the Macao peninsula.
After the Covid-19 pandemic and severe weather held up work, construction has finally been finished at the billion-pataca Barra station.
The 7.7-kilometre line will connect the Barrier Gate border checkpoint and the Taipa Ferry Terminal, with construction estimated at 4 years.