The contract was awarded by French-Japanese consortium Keolis-MHI DUBAI: French aerospace and defense provider Thales has signed a contract to maintain some signaling and communications equipment of Dubai Metro. The contract was awarded by French-Japanese consortium Keolis-MHI, which the Dubai transport authority picked to operate the emirate’s train lines in March this year for 15 years. Thales has previously provided the Dubai metro with several technologies including automated fare collection systems, and security-related services.