Great stuff, the opening of this incredible transport utility in the Emirate of Dubai.
God willing it will spread to the rest of the Emirates and maybe, one day, in the future, the rest of the Gulf.
Just one funny point about the show on Live Dubai One, after four years of careful planning and execution of every detail of this immense project and industrial feat, it seems someone forgot to train the English translator on English language pronunciation.
I’m sorry but it is too funny, it would be a crime NOT to mention it. Congratulations Dubai!
Mr H
Dubai
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I would like to thank His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Dubai government officials for this historic and magnificent achievement in the UAE and to all those workers who made it into reality.
I am sure, like myself, everyone was all excited and geared up for the joyous metro train ride when the metro train was inaugurated and rolled out in vibrant style.
Dubai has always been full of wonderful surprises and I am certain Dubai will surely reach the moon one day.
Well I guess it is time to dump the car and hop on the metro train.
Oh before I sign off, I do hope the metro train commuters will keep the these beautiful Dubai trains in a clean spic and span condition and adhere to the rules and regulation that are given – I would hate to see people misusing it.
So Everyone out there, let’s shout out loud and clear, Hip Hip Hooray… and a big round of applause for the the Dubai Metro! He Ha. Choo Choo…
Errol D’Souza
Dubai
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Today like other hundreds of people I was excited to have my first trip on the new inaugurated Metro.
What a nightmare it turned out to be. It was total shambles.
I purchased a red card for my husband and I for a return fare from Financial Centre station to Deira City Centre, and we went to the platform waiting for the train…
A train that never came.
After 20 minutes waiting on the hot platform (I thought they were meant to be air conditioned) the automated voice informed passengers that there were delays on the line.
We patiently waited.
After 40 minutes a packed train pulled into the station so we hopped on thinking the wait was over but 20 minutes later still it had not left.
So we headed downstairs to ask for a refund for a ticket we never used.
First we were told there were no refunds, but I did not take no for an answer and as the queue at the ticketing office started to grow longer, the personnel then offered coupons but I wanted my cash back and myself and few other passenger argued with the supervisor until we got it.
The station was in the end completely closed due to a train broken down somewhere along the red line… It’s absolutely appalling that we had to wait an hour on the platform with no information and then an hour for things to be sorted. I am looking forward to hearing what other people felt and how many of these will try the Metro again. Probably none will.
First of all testing has been done for months but I have never seen testing done with actual carriages full of passengers, ie. full weight carriages and AC at full blast on – dear RTA that’s how you do testing, instead trains were tested with emptied carriages at prime conditions which were successful but in real conditions would and have failed: a broken down train on day 2? Come on!
We couldn’t care less that it opened on the 09.09.09, we just wanted it to work and work properly even if it meant and extra three months waiting so I hope RTA takes this letter at heart because the experience of today has left a bitter taste in many mouths.
Mrs Joseph
Dubai
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We remember the days when Dubai was forgetting its sense of time. You plan a meeting at 10am on Monday and there would definitely be someone arriving at 10.20 am with all known acceptable excuses like traffic jam, unable to get the parking etc etc. It became the norm to expect a buffer time of ten minutes to 30 minutes depending on the venue of the meeting…
We remember the days when you plan an office get together and 15 people would be waiting for two coming late due to reasons like ‘unable to find taxi’ or ‘unable to get the bus on time’.
The opening of Dubai Metro on 09/09/09 at 09:09:09pm only signifies to me and my friends the return of value of time in Dubai.
From now on, if you plan a meeting on Monday morning, half past ten, it simply means the meeting will be on Monday morning at 10:30:00.
I hope the driverless robotic metro trains will bring back the time discipline to Dubai.
William
Dubai
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I would like to congratulate the RTA for the job well done. Metro is a very big help with our day-to-day lives, especially for expats like me.
Much appreciated if the RTA will provide feeder buses from Rashidiya station to Sharjah though! We have a lot of commuters from Sharjah who will be very glad if you could provide us also a transportation like this.
Joy
Sharjah
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After months of anticipation, the residents of Dubai now have access to ten working stations from Nakheel Harbor and tower to Rashidiya. However the fist day of Dubai Metro encountered some technical difficulties – “Broken down train” I overheard one of the engineers explain to another.
After 20 minutes waiting, it was announced that the train will arrive in the next 15 minutes. At this time there were over 300 people waiting for the train to arrive.
Just then, I heard a young man sneeze. Suddenly it occurred to me that there were no warnings or campaigns to make aware the train users of the swine flue epidemic, which till date has taken six lives in the UAE and is very likely to increase in the coming months. Metro stations and metro carriages can be ideal places for the transmittable Swine Flu disease.
It is very surprising and disappointing to see that no campaign was taken by officials to prevent this epidemic growing.
We would like to give them the benefit of a doubt for our sake, and look forward to seeing awareness and preventive campaigns in the near future.
Maybe encourage the travellers to wear protective masks to prevent infection?
Amir
Dubai
