Business | Construction
Contract for two more Metro lines this year
Contract for the construction of two more Dubai Metro lines - Blue and Purple - will be awarded later this year, said a senior official.
- By Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter
- Published: 00:36 March 5, 2008
Dubai: Contract for the construction of two more Dubai Metro lines - Blue and Purple - will be awarded later this year, said a senior official.
Dubai will have four Metro lines by 2015, covering the existing and new developments.
The Red and Green lines are currently under construction while the Purple and Blue lines will be constructed by 2012 and 2015 respectively.
"Contract for the Blue and the Purple Lines will be awarded in the second quarter of this year," said Abdul Redha Abu Al Hassan, Director of Planning at the Rail Agency of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). He was speaking at a conference on Mega Projects 2008 organised by Middle East Economic Digest (MEED).
He said that the RTA has already appointed consultants for the Purple line while the Blue line is still in the design stage.
Rail Agency will construct a total 318km of Metro network and 270km of tram network by 2020. The Metro and tram network will be linked to other modes of public transport, including buses, water transport and taxis.
Dubai will have a total of 74.6km Metro network fully operational by March 2010. The 54.1km Red line will be operational in September 2009 while the 22.3km Green line will be in use in March 2010.
He said the contract for the 49km Purple line will connect Dubai airport with Al Maktoum International Airport through the new developments on Al Khail Road. The line is likely to be extended to new developments at later stages.
The Blue line, which will initially be 50km long from Dubai International Airport to Al Maktoum International Airport passing through Emirates Road, is currently under study. It is likely to be extended from Dubai airport to Palm Deira and to other new developments towards Dubai waterfront projects.
He said that since the Purple line will serve airports and it will be operation round the clock, the RTA is considering to have double tracks to ensure smooth operation even during maintenance work. The Purple line will be built at an estimated cost of Dh10 billion. The cost of the construction would be born by the RTA.
"Private developers will be allowed to link their tram and mono rail network with the main metro lines but they themselves will bear the cost," he added.
Plans: Green line extension
The Rail Agency at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is working on plans to extend the Green line from Academic City to International City to serve the new communities.
"We are finalising plans to tender the 15-km extension of the Red Line from Jebel Ali to Dubai-Abu Dhabi borders," said Abdul Redha Abu Al Salman.
He said the test run on the 4.5-km track on the Red Line will start in May.
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