Dubai: Drilling work for a 3.2km tunnel that will be part of the Route 2020 of Dubai Metro began on Tuesday.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the drilling work, pressing the massive Al Wugeisha tunnel boring machine into action at Discovery Gardens.
The drilling work is part of the underground section of the 15km-long Route 2020 extending the Red Line from Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station to the site of Expo 2020.
The route runs on an 11.8km elevated track and 3.2km underground, supported by seven stations, including an interchange station, a station at the expo site, three elevated stations and two underground stations.
Starting at the Discovery Gardens, the tunnel snakes through several densely populated areas before culminating at The Green community. Depth of the tunnel ranges from 12.5 metres to 36 metres.
Work on the metro extension began in September last year, with the piling works at the Expo site kicking off on November 1, 2016.
Work on casting the pre-cast concrete slabs started in April this year while construction works for the metro viaduct started in August.
Briefing Shaikh Mohammad on the progress of the project, Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, explained that the giant tunnel boring machine will cross the underground station near Jumeirah Golf Estates in January next year.
He said that all tunnel drilling work will be completed by December 2018, whereas the construction work for the viaducts will be completed in November.
New trains
Even as the first of the new Dubai Metro Rolling Stocks will arrive in July 2018, all railway works of Route 2020 will be completed in July 2019. Trial runs on the new route are expected to start in February 2020.
Following the briefing, Shaikh Mohammad also reviewed the interior design of the new rolling stocks and the progress of the project.
As part of the expansion and upgrade of metro operations, 50 new trains will join the Dubai Metro fleet, boasting improvements and several new design features.
Being manufactured in France, 15 of the new trains will serve Route 2020 and the remaining 35 will operate on the existing lines of Dubai Metro.
Some of the changes to the interior design of the metro cars include dedicating the last car for women and children and leaving part of the first car for the Gold Class and other cars for Silver Class.
Seats will be transversal in the Gold Class, and longitudinal in the Silver Class as well as the Women and Children car.
Al Tayer said that the exterior design of trains will remain as it is, in order to maintain the design identity of Dubai Metro and its familiar colours.
However, some design changes that do not affect the main design identity will be made. Part of these are new designs for the handles, lighting, and locations of digital signage.
New design elements will also include an illuminated dynamic map for the metro route and stations, using an LED power-saving lighting system, and modifications to the design of the luggage compartment to enable it to be used by standing commuters.
Improvements also cover the shape and number of handles, the use of modern digital display systems, distribution of seats on the two sides of the train and enhancements to the gangway connecting carriages.
The new carriages are customised for the use of people of determination and the smooth boarding and alighting of metro users.
