By Staff gulftoday.ae
Dubai: The Dubai Metro will celebrate its third anniversary on Sunday, amid considerable success in terms of operational efficiency, complying with on-time journey schedules as well as the highest international safety standards, and the Metro rider ship, which clocked 184 million passengers from the start of operations till the end of August 2012.
On this day in 2009, Dubai celebrated the opening of the Red Line, which extends 52 km and comprises 29 stations (4 underground, 24 elevated, and 1 at the grade).
After two years of the Red Line operation, Dubai also celebrated on Sept.9, 2011 the launch of the Green Line, which spans 23 km and comprises 18 stations (6 underground, 12 elevated), and the two lines intersect at Khalid Bin Al Waleed and Al Ittihad Stations.
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said, “This huge success has gone beyond the boundaries of the emirate to the world over, stamping the prominent standing of Dubai as a distinctive metropolitan city and a hub for business and sophisticated living standards. The Dubai Metro is also viewed as an iconic addition to the landmarks and high-flying achievements of the Dubai Emirate, particularly as it used cutting-edge technology of the rail industry, and carved a niche for itself as the world’s longest driverless Metro project.
“The Dubai Metro project is a brainchild of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in providing an integrated infrastructure of road networks and transit systems comprising railroads, public buses, marine transit modes and modern traffic technologies in the context of endeavours to provide an integrated transit system capable of matching the sweeping development seen by the Emirate and measuring up to its futuristic ambitions.
“The project also comes in implementation of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 in general and the Infrastructure and Environment Sector in particular with a view to offering a smooth mobility, enhancing transit safety levels, and making mass transit systems the ideal choice of mobility,” continued the RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director.
Al Tayer was delighted with these positive indicators depicting a growth in the Dubai Metro users, and demonstrating that the RTA plan for increasing the rider-ship of mass transit systems was moving in the right direction. More info
