Dubai: When Dubai Metro first rolled out on 09.09.09, there were major doubts about the extent of its usage as the city’s reputation of having one car for every two individuals preceded it. Few could imagine that they would give up the luxury of their exclusive cars to embrace mass transport. But five Septembers later, the naysayers have been proved wrong.
Ask any passenger riding the city’s driverless wonder today and you will find two common refrains for and against the Metro: ‘so convenient’ and ‘so crowded’. But bouquets or brickbats, either way you look at it, their comments point to a resounding success story.
Carrying over 455 million passengers on trains travelling 768,484 times up and down the Red and Green Lines until July 2014, Dubai Metro is not just a statistical feat. As regular passenger Shabina Mustafa put it, “It has rendered the impossible possible in Dubai.”
For the millions of passengers, both residents and tourists alike, Dubai Metro has emerged as the most popular and preferred form of transport in the city today because of its high frequency, extensive connectivity, unfailing punctuality and above all, savings in terms of cost and travel time.
For over four years, Mustafa, an Indian insurance manager, has been using the Metro from Business Bay to reach her office near Deira City Centre. “I’ve been here 14 years and I know how difficult and expensive it was to travel earlier. Now, I just park my car near the Business Bay station and take the train to work. It’s hassle-free and I also save money.”
From nannies and nurses to senior management across offices, hospitals, restaurants and stores, regular passengers swear by the Dubai Metro. Pakistani general trader Mohammad Jawad, who has been using the train since the first day of its launch, said: “The system is getting better by the day. Things have become easier with feeder buses and state-of-the-art technology.” Two sales colleagues Elma Samuel and Michelle Cataluna said they can’t imagine life without Metro. “Ours is a sales job and we are in the field all day. No matter where we have to go, the Metro is there to take us in the shortest possible time,” said Samuel, a passenger since 2009.
Similarly, Filipina nanny Daisy Adrian, who travels from Rashidiya to Karama, said, “The buses I would take earlier would take time and a long route to reach Karama. But now I can clock my journey as the train is never late. Even if I miss one train, I can get another soon.”
The best tributes come from those who can make comparisons. Lynsey Loughlin, a British expat who uses Dubai Metro six days a week from Dubai Health Care City to Mall of the Emirates, said: “The Metro here is so much better than what we have back home – cleaner and more dependable.”
South African air traffic controller Iain Mackenzie who lives in Umm Suqeim, said he takes the Metro to congested areas where he can’t park his car. “It is a pleasure to ride the Metro here as it is clean and well-organised. I can tell you that after using the Metro in cities like New York and London.”
Even tourists can tell the difference. Spanish visitors Laura and Mijuel on a four-day trip, said: “The trains are new and clean out here. The security is also better.”
The lavish praise notwithstanding, regular passengers had one overriding complaint: overcrowding during rush hour. “I call this the crush hour,” said Indian student Naveen. “There are so many of us packed into each compartment, there’s hardly any space to breathe sometimes.”
Filipina nurse Zueda who goes to DIFC along with her collegue Manette, said: “The ladies compartments are crowded. It is time they make more room for us.”
They were many others who wished that RTA would introduce more feeder buses and improve connectivity to New Dubai gated communities.
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