Due to increased car usage and chronic road congestion, plans for a light railway system had been proposed for many years.

The idea of introducing Light Rail Transit was first floated in the 1970s and started being developed in the 1980s as a way to solve increasing road congestion.

[citation needed] The idea only started gaining traction in 1995, when the concept of light rail was formulated.

In September 2012 the Government of Mauritius signed a contract with the Singapore Cooperative Enterprise, valued at around Rs 180 million ($6 million as of September 2012), for the determination of a feasible alignment of the light rail line, development of reference design and consideration of potential future line extension.

[4] In December 2016, Sir Anerood Jugnauth gave the green light for the implementation of the Metro Express Project because of mitigating the rising cost of traffic congestion.

[5] On 31 July 2017 in Ebene the Government of Mauritius signed a contract for the creation of a light rail transit system.

[7][8] A launching ceremony by the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth was held on 10 March 2017 at Caudan Old Train Depot.

RITES Ltd, a Government of India engineering consultancy company, currently acts in a supervisory role to ensure the quality and timely delivery of the Project.

The Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) for this Project are from Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), Spain.

[16] The target to complete the rest of the line (Phase 2B) was pushed back to the end of 2022, given the COVID-19 Pandemic and lockdowns in the Country.

[citation needed] The multimodal station already integrates several modes of transport and its connection with Phase 3 will generate job creation and will certainly contribute to an increase in economic growth and standard of living.

[21] During a site visit on 1 July 2021, the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Alan Ganoo announced among others that a new temporary stop, near the Caudan flyover some 300 m (984 ft) down the line from the Port Louis Victoria station, would be built and be in service until the works at Caudan are completed.

They form mostly part of the ongoing development of the Metro Express project for Phase 2, with an integration element with various infrastructural facilities.

They are the upcoming integration works with Victoria Urban Terminal; maintenance and improvement (enabling works) at the Caudan entrance; Le Pouce Railway Bridge; a temporary light rail platform at Waterfront; and a temporary light rail station near Caudan flyover.

[23] The completion of the section from the Waterfront temporary station to Aapravasi Ghat is subject to ongoing coordination with UNESCO.

Major structural works on the branch will include a 548 m (1,798 ft) long flyover, between the Rose Hill Central elevated station (installed north of the station), and Ebène (in front of the Ebène State Secondary School), and a 120 m (394 ft) long bridge over Cascade River, located next to a disused railway bridge, which will be preserved; and the presence of a hydroelectric dam nearby will have to be taken into consideration.

[3][25][26] On 14 July 2021 the CEO of Metro Express Ltd, Das Mootanah announced that the acquisition of land for the Rose Hill to Ebène branch has already started and the company was engaging in dialogue with stakeholders - Réduit, Larsen & Toubro and RITES.

[23] The Ebène and Réduit extension lines and the stations were already recommended in a report by the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, submitted to the Mauritian authorities in 2016.

Regular commuters are encouraged to use the MECard—a contactless, stored-value card that automatically deducts the correct fare by tapping on it before boarding and off after disembarking.

1 km2 (0.39 sq mi) and features eight external stabling tracks, a maintenance building, a wash facility and a sanding plant.