Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday launched the trial operation of Dubai Tram, which will hit tracks on November 11.
Shaikh Mohammad was accompanied by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Deputy Ruler.
Served by 11 stations on a 10.6km stretch in phase one, Dubai Tram will have the world’s first tram stations with platform screen doors.
The tram system is considered the first of its kind outside Europe fed by ground power cables, with no catenary cables involved, which makes the Dubai Tram one of the safest in the world.
Shaikh Mohammad was received at the Tram Depot in Al Sufouh by Mattar Mohammad Al Tayer, Chairman and CEO of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), and a number of RTA’s chief executives and engineers and officials from the company executing the project.
Shaikh Mohammad toured the depot, which has 11 environment-friendly buildings and a capacity to accommodate 25 trains. The facility includes a control centre for rail operations, which verifies the safety of doors, brakes and motors of each train, in addition to air-conditioners along with other sophisticated ancillary electronic systems, maintenance workshops and washing and cleaning workshops.
Shaikh Mohammad then boarded a Dubai Tram where he was briefed by Al Tayer on the components of the tram.
“With a capacity to accommodate 405 passengers at a time, the 44-metre-long trams have been divided into three classes — Gold, Silver and women and children. Each tram will have seven cabins, one for Gold class, two for women and the remaining for Silver class, Al Tayer said.
Then, they stopped at Al Sufouh station 11 where he acquainted himself with the tram’s door opening and shutting system.
Shaikh Mohammad was also briefed on the stations’ design and works as well as the automatic collection of tickets and entrance doors.
The tram project is the world’s first tramway that uses platform screen doors fully aligned with the door opening and shutting mechanism.
Shaikh Mohammad inspected the underground operational system, which includes electric and electro-mechanical equipment and air-conditioning systems.
Then the tram continued its journey to Mina Seyahi station 7 passing through Knowledge Village, Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Media City.
Shaikh Mohammad inspected the footbridge that links the station with Mina Seyahi and nearby areas.
