The initial Pataca 7.5 billion ($US 90 million) phase will run for 22km
from Portas do Centro near the border with mainland China, to Lago da
Barra and across the Sai Van bridge to the island of Taipa, where it
will terminate at Macau International Airport.
A rubber-tyred
system will be used with 30m-long trains accommodating around 200
passengers. The line will operate for 19 hours a day with a minimum
headway of three minutes, giving a peak capacity of 4000 passengers per
direction per hour.
The first 23-station phase of the network will
open in 2014. Future extensions could include an east-west line across
the Macao peninsula, and a Sai Van - Pac On Ferry Terminal line on
Taipa island which would use part of Phase 1 to form a circle line.
Macau is the world's most densely-populated region, with 18,428 inhabitants per square-km.