Source: www.rta.ae
H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), announced that construction works in most stations of the Dubai Metro Green Line have been completed, while the completion of stations’ interior finishing works varies from 10 to 100 per cent.
Al Tayer revealed that completion rate of Al Qusais Park-and-Ride facility has hit 75 per cent, and confirmed that the project is progressing on schedule towards the planned project opening in August 2011.
The above statement was made during an inspection tour made by Al Tayer of the Dubai Metro Green Line project that took him to the Metro Depot at Al Qusais, Rail Operation Control Center, and the multi-story car park, as well as Etisalat, Al Ittihad, Al Ras and Al Ghubaiba stations.
During the tour, Al Tayer was flanked by the CEO of Rail Agency Adnan Al Hamadi, CEO of Traffic & Roads Agency Maitha bin Udai, Board Member and Head of the Team following up the Hosting of the UITP Congress 2011 in Dubai Mohammed Obaid Al Mulla, Acting CEO of Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector Yousef Jawad Al Rida, and several directors & engineers supervising the project.
Al Tayer set off his tour by inspecting the metro Depot at Al Qusais; a garage constructed for the maintenance & cleaning of the metro carriages, and is fitted with air-conditioners & advanced firefighting systems. It comprises a parking area for train carriages and has a capacity to house 60 trains at a time. It includes Rail Systems Operations Control Center; which ensures the safety of doors, brakes and engines, as well as the air-conditioning systems and other sophisticated electronic sub systems of each train separately. It also contains workshops for carrying out maintenance works, and dedicated workshops for washing and cleaning of train carriages.
Al Tayer inspected the work progress in Rail Systems Operations Control Center; where the contracting company is making the final touches at the Center. Completion rate of the metal structures and external cladding works have almost reached 99%, and the interior finishing works topped 56%. The Center is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies enabling full control of the daily metro operation on both the Red and Green Lines. The Center also provides control, supervision and monitoring of trains traffic & systems through supervising the functionality of the auto train movement and related systems such as the communication systems, electrical transformers, and power feed system for both the rolling stock and the metro stations. It also enables supervision of safety systems such as fire-fighting systems along with ventilation systems in tunnels, stations & trains. The Center also monitors rail air-conditioning systems, and the safety of doors, brakes and engines of each train. It also acts as a point of comm
unication with rail commuters in the event of emergency using the communication systems on board the carriages and the Control Room.
Al Tayer reviewed the work progress in the multi-level Park-and-Ride facility where the completion rate in the parking lot, surrounding roads, bus station and footbridges is nearing 75 per cent. Al Tayer toured the building which has a capacity to house 2350 vehicles and meant to encourage the public to use the metro in their mobility across Dubai Emirate. The building has been designed to provide ample space for feeder buses, ensure smooth traffic flow and accommodate huge numbers of buses at a time. It is also fitted with footbridges linking up with the opposite side of the road to ensure easy and safe access to the metro station, while providing the standard safety measures for passenger movement in the building.
Al Tayer continued his site tour by inspecting the work progress at Etisalat Station; the starting point of the Green Line of Dubai Metro, where the contractor has completed all concrete works, metal structures and platform doors of the station, whereas the completion rate in the external cladding works of the roof reached 63%. The station, which has a capacity to handle 11,000 passengers per hour per direction, measures 130 x 30 meters, and has two entries fitted with escalators and lifts.
Al Tayer then inspected the work progress in Al Ittihad Station; a key transfer stations where the Green and Red Lines meet. The station is considered the world’s biggest metro station spanning an area of 25,000 square meters and has a capacity to handle 22,000 passengers per hour. The Station consists of two levels, extends 230 meters in length and 50 meters in width, and 18 meters in depth. It houses commercial & service outlets for metro users, and has two entry points equipped with lifts & escalators. Four tunnels branch out of the Station bound to Khalid bin Al Waleed & Al Rigga Stations on the Red Line, and Bani Yas & Salah Uddin Stations on the Green Line. Al Tayer attended to a briefing about the work progress in the station, where the contractor has completed concrete works, and metal structures of platform screen doors, as well as interior finishing works, and is currently finalizing electrical and mechanical works.
Al Tayer then inspected the progress of work at Al Ras & Al Ghubaiba Stations; where all construction & civil works have been accomplished and so are the metal structure works in the platforms of the two stations. Completion rate of the interior finishing works exceed 10%. The two stations feature heritage designs depicting the history and legacy of the UAE. The theme of the design revolves around employing the architectural traditional elements used in antique buildings, such as wind towers (Brajeel), oriels (Mashrabia), alleyways (Sukaik), internal arches and others through replicating them in an enhanced manner, while addressing the aesthetic and technical dimensions of those elements such that the heritage-inspired stations would match the traditional Souks in the locality and look like a natural extension of the Heritage & Diving Village, and fit well with the antique control towers currently seen in the area.
At the conclusion of his tour Al Tayer expressed his delight with the work progress in various locations of the project, and commended the efforts of all personnel working tirelessly to accomplish the project. However, he called on the contracting company to commit more efforts to ensure the opening of all stations on time.
