Thales, the $16 billion French defence and civilian technologies major, has offered India the same safety, communication and navigation system that is helping Dubai run the world's longest unmanned metro network.

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With Delhi Metro set to start the next phase of its expansion, Thales has pitched for what is called the communication-based train control system that Dubai uses for its fully-automated, driverless metro network of 77.6 km.

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"Automation is certainly a guarantee for safety and punctuality. We saw this as the best option and it has proved to be the right choice," said Adnan Al Hammadi, chief executive of Rail Agency, a part of Dubai's Road Transport Authority that runs the metro here.

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"As a result, the time between trains is just under four minutes. Also, our punctuality is above 99 percent," Al Hammadi told a group of visiting Indian journalists while making a presentation on Dubai Metro.

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Officials at Delhi Metro Rail Corp, the state-run company that runs the service in the Indian capital, have indicated that they will opt for a communication-based train control system in the next expansion phase.

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