Dubai: The opening of the remaining stations on the Red Line and the Green Line of the Dubai Metro has been revised again, according to a top official at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
Seven more of the 18 stations still to be opened on the Red Line will be ready on April 25 while the rest of the stations will be opened in phases. Currently, only 11 out of a total of 29 stations on the Red Line are operational.
With the opening of the new stations, the total number of operational stations will go up to 18. The RTA did not give any time frame for the opening of the remaining 11 stations on the Red Line.
The authority has also revised the opening of the 23-km-long Green Line boasting 18 stations, a depot, and a parking complex for 3,000 cars in Al Qusais.
"The Green Line will now be operational in August 2011," Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the board and executive director of the RTA, said in statement issued yesterday.
Original schedule
The Green Line was originally scheduled to open in March 2010 but the date was set back to October 2010 and now it has been rescheduled for opening in August 2011.
The contractor involved with the project had resumed work in the second week of February following marathon meetings with RTA officials to sort out a payment dispute, sources told Gulf News.
"The RTA will provide the biggest portion of cash injections out of its budget allocated by the Dubai Government to cover the cost of the remaining works on the Red and Green Lines," said Al Tayer.
The government has approved a Dh10.7-billion budget for the RTA this year.
"The remaining portion of additional works' cost will be funded through the project contractor who will be paid as per agreement reached," said Al Tayer.
He had earlier announced that the cost of the Dubai Metro project had jumped from the original contract of Dh15.5 billion to Dh28 billion due to extension of the Red and Green Lines, addition of depots owing to increased capacity, increase in number of pedestrian bridged linked with Metro stations and general improvement of areas around stations.
The stations will be linked with the public bus transport system and feeder buses to carry metro passengers in localities around the stations.
New stops: Wider network
Seven more stations will open on the Red Line on April 25, according to the RTA.
The new stations are:
- Emirates Station
- Airport Terminal 1 Station
- GGICO Station (Al Garhoud)
- Al Karama Station
- World Trade Centre Station
- Marina Station and
- Ibn Battuta Station
The stations will be linked with the public bus transport system and feeder buses.
