Dubai: The official ground-breaking ceremony of the Dh15.5 billion Dubai Metro project was performed yesterday by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The first phase of the Dubai Metro called the Red Line will be ready by September 2009, ensuring ultra modern public transport facilities. The second phase called the Green Line will be operational by March 2010.
The project is a fully automated and driverless system running on two lines - red and green - with a total length of 69.7km.
"Now onwards, construction of the Dubai Metro will be in full swing all over the city as preparations have already been made to start construction work at various places simultaneously," said Engineer Mattar Al Tayer, Executive Director of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), while speaking at the grand ceremony attended by local and foreign dignitaries.
He said one of the main objectives of the RTA is to put in place a much needed world-class public transport system and to encourage people to use it.
"We expect to increase the use of public transport from the current five per cent to 35 per cent in the next five years with Dubai Metro taking up to 17 per cent of the share," said Al Tayer.
He said work on the Red Line, as per the plan, is being carried out while the construction of the Green Line will start by the end of this year.
The metro system will run on Red and Green Lines.
The Red Line, which runs from Rashidiya Station to Jebel Ali Station, is 52.1km long, including 4.7km of underground and 47.4km elevated line. The estimated travel time on Red Line will be 66 minutes.
The Green Line is 17.6km long, including 7.6km underground lane in the business district areas of Dubai. It runs from Dubai Airport Free Zone to Dubai Healthcare City. The estimated journey time on the Green Line will be 27 minutes.
Al Tayer said the RTA looks at a global view of transportation in Dubai by means of integrating all modes of transportation like metro, water taxis and buses.
The metro will help to reduce traffic congestion in the city by providing a convenient public transport system.
In order to encourage residents to gradually shun their cars, some facilities like special cabin for VIPs, ladies and children will also be introduced.
Waiting time between each train will be 160 seconds and this will be reduced to 90 seconds during peak hours.
There will a total of 43 stations, 29 on the Red Line and 14 on the Green Line.
Passengers will be able to use their own cars, buses or taxis to reach the metro stations.
TRAVEL EASY
1.85m passengers can travel every day
- - The train will run at a maximum speed of 110km per hour.
- - It will cover the Red Line in 66 minutes and will take 27 minutes to complete a one-way trip on the Green Line.
- - Every train will have five carriages, including one for
VIPs and a dedicated compartment for ladies and children. - - Every train will carry around 580 passengers at a time.
- - The fully operational system will carry about 1.85 million passengers each working day with an annual total of 650 million passengers, and some 38,000 passengers per hour per direction.
- - The driverless metro system will be centrally controlled from the Operation Control Centre.
- - Each station will have car parking facility, taxi stand and public bus service.
- - In order to encourage residents to gradually shun their cars, some facilities like special cabin for VIPs, ladies and children will also be introduced.
