Dubai Metro opens with 10 Red Line stations out of 29, namely: Rashidiya, Terminal 3 (Dubai International Airport), City Center, Al Rigga, Union, Khalid bin Al Waleed, Jafliah, Financial Center, Mall of the Emirates, and Nakheel Harbour & Tower. The remaining stations on the Red Line will be opened in phases over the next few months.



“During the holy month of Ramadan Dubai Metro service will run from Saturday to Thursday from 06.00 am up to midnight, while on Friday the metro service will start from 02.00 pm to midnight. After Ramadan the Metro service will run from Saturday to Thursday from 06.00 am up to 11.00 pm, while on Friday the metro service will start from 02.00 pm to midnight”, said H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board & Executive Director of Roads & Transport Authority (RTA).

Earlier this month RTA introduced ‘pay-as-you-go’ Nol Card – single card for the metro, public buses, water buses and RTA prepaid parking services. According to RTA, Dubai Metro service is set to run every 10 minutes with 6 trains per hour. It is anticipated that the Red Line will service 3500 passengers per hour per direction. The 22.5 km Green Line will run from Al Qusais to Jaddaf and have 18 stations and is scheduled to start in June 2010.

Every stop will be served by buses, abras or water taxis, all with air-conditioned waiting areas. The complete system should be fully operational by 2015.

The Operations Control Centre will be run by Serco that will also provide train attendants and all the staff at the stations as well as operating and maintaining the Metro infrastructure and rolling stock.

“Serco as experienced operator of driverless metros is proud to be working in partnership with the RTA to deliver a safe and secure system. It will be one of the most advanced urban rail systems in the world and the cornerstone of the RTA’s vision for an integrated public transport system for Dubai,” said Nick Brown, Chief Executive of Serco Integrated Transport & Middle East

airrail NEWS followed the construction progress and shared the doubts whether the system will be ready for the opening today. Our readers can now follow the live tweets from commuters about the Dubai Metro opening in our ‘Latest on Twitter’ section.

Some airrail NEWS readers were asking what it is so significant about the 09/9/2009. According to numerology, this is a special date as 999 means completion, an end of a big phase, the divine justice and truth. 999 is also the point of transformation, an inverted 666, the moment at which we shift a crisis in the direction of an opportunity.

Facts only

• The 5-car train of Dubai Metro accelerates off from standstill at 1.00 m/s/s Meter/Second2
• The maximum operating speed of Dubai Metro train is 90km/h.
• The average speed of the train is approximately 45 km/h which includes the station dwell time.
• Phase 1 – the Red Line has 29 stations is 52 km long with nearly 5 km underground.
• Phase 2 – the Green Line has 18 stations is 22 km long with nearly 8 km underground.
• There will be 87 fully automated driverless five car trains – each will take 643 passengers
• Electronic and smart card passes and tickets will allow travel across the public transport network

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