Paul Anderson is the Brit charged with operating and maintaining Dubai’s metro. Since opening in September 2009 the Arab world’s first driverless train has carried more than 23 million passengers, and it’s all under Anderson’s watch.

The rest of the Middle East will be watching his progress with some interest – other Gulf and regional governments have said that they are considering following Dubai’s lead and installing their own metro systems.

Anderson’s firm Serco, the British global services company that counts the Docklands Light Railway and the Copenhagen Metro among its transport clients, has provided consultancy and planning to Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) since 2007.

In 2008, the company’s involvement in the metro was sealed when it signed a twelve and a half year deal to operate and maintain the first two lines of the Dubai Metro. The deal, which can be extended for a further five years, was valued at £500m ($77.1m). Under the terms of the deal Serco runs the metro’s operations control centre, maintains the rolling stock, track and station facilities and employs more than 3,000 staff.