Maktoob News takes a ride on the metro to see how successful it has been in winning over the city’s commuters.
Bustling train carriages, crowded platforms, the constant rattle of ticket gates opening and closing - all music to the ears of Dubai’s transport authority and proof of the success of the city’s fledgling metro system. Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob NewsThe Dubai Metro opened to the public on Sept. 9 to much fanfare, but also to much doubt as to whether it would succeed in a city where the car is king and searing year-round temperatures make venturing outside the safety of air-conditioning unpopular. Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob NewsAlmost three months and 3 million passengers later the metro, albeit a drastically cut down version of what it will become, has earned its stripes and won over many of those who initially questioned its success. Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob News“We have an average of more than 50,000 people travelling on the metro every day,” said Peyman Younes Parham, director of marketing and corporate communications at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob News“These levels have exceeded all our expectations, we were expecting 30 to 40 percent less. There are problems we have experienced, but there isn’t a metro service in the world that doesn’t have some trouble.” Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob NewsThe RTA made much of the initial numbers using the metro in the first few weeks, but the majority were there out of curiosity rather than necessity. Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob NewsHowever, on an early morning journey from Al Jaffiliya Station near the World Trade Centre up to Nakheel Harbor and Towers Station on Sunday one could be excused for thinking they were on any major city’s transport network during commuter rush hour. Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob NewsMost seats were taken, the isles were congested and passengers were either reading a book, flicking through a newspaper or listening to their iPods. Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob News“I have used the service since it launched,” said Shon Aslam, sitting looking out the window at the traffic as the train made its way up the side of Sheikh Zayed Road. Photograph: Peter Harrison/Maktoob News
