By Shakir Husain www.business.maktoob.com
The metro’s first line, the Red Line, launched on Sept. 9 at 9 p.m. and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is planning a similarly memorable date for the Green Line, a source said.
The proposed launch date for the 23 km Green Line, which will run between Al-Qusais and Al-Jadaf, indicates its opening will be delayed well past the most recent estimates given by RTA officials.
RTA Chairman Mattar al-Tayer said in August that the Green Line would open in June, three months later than originally scheduled.
Another source said not all 18 stations will be open at launch and that, similar to the Red Line launch, some stations will open at a later date.
“The Green Line will be ready in November, but it is possible that some stations may open in October,” a person working on the project said.
The Red Line launched with just a third of its 29 stations open. The remaining stations are scheduled to open by February next year.
Peyman Younes Parham, RTA’s director of communications, said he could not comment on speculation about a further delay to the Green Line.
“The last official date we have (for the Green Line’s opening) is June 2010. There is no change in that,” Parham told Maktoob Business.
UAE daily Gulf News reported in September that the Green Line would open towards the end of 2010, citing Abdul Majid al-Khaja, CEO of the RTA’s Rail Agency.
The cost of building the Dubai Metro has soared 75 percent to 28 billion dirhams ($7.62 billion) due to addition of stations and depots and track extensions.
The RTA had initially estimated construction of the Red and Green lines would cost around 16 billion dirhams.
