By Shafaat Ahmed www.khaleejtimes.com
The Metro’s Green Line, which is likely to have an Eid launch in September this year, will have greater impact than its predecessor, easing traffic particularly in the city’s clogged Central Business Districts (CBD), said Matar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Roads and Transport Authority.
The 22-km second line of the Metro snakes through the heart of the city, touching all important locations, including most of the government departments and ministry offices.
The maximum travel time within the network is estimated to be 15-20 minutes, nearly half of the current average journey time on the clogged roads in the CBD.
“The Dubai Metro has already had a profound impact on the way Dubai moved, but the complete impact would be felt only once the Green Line starts. Though it is a smaller line in terms of distance, it touches all important locations in the city and would drastically reduce the travel time within the area it covers,” said Matar Al Tayer.
Speaking to the Press at a special majlis at the RTA head office, Al Tayer confirmed that there would be a drastic change in the city life once the Green Line starts. “The CBD area would transform for the better and there will greater mobility as the traffic would reduce considerably.”
He said RTA had worked hard for the last five years to improve the traffic situation in Dubai, spending Dh60 billion on various projects including the Metro.
“RTA’s success serves as an inspiration for others in the region and many delegations from across the region continuously visit us to seek our expertise in infrastructure and mobility projects,” said Al Tayer, highlighting Dubai’s achievements in the mobility sector.
Around 13 trains would roll out on the Green Line, served by 16 stations initially. Nearly 20 more trains would stand ready to be added as and when demand rises.
Two more stations on the Green Line, which are located in Al Jaddaf and are ready to operate, would open when there is enough demand from the area.
Currently RTA is conducting integrated testing and commissioning on the Green Line and the complete system operations demonstration test is expected to be carried out in next month, after which the line would be ready to operate. In terms of expansion of Metro, the RTA is currently conducting a study to develop and revise Rail Master Plan, which is going to discuss future lines, technology options as well as implementation strategies. “We are continuously revising our plans to update periodically and add more features to our Master Plan and once new study is ready we will decide on expansion,” said Adnan Al Hammadi, CEO of RTA’s Rail Agency. Once the Green Line gets rolling, Dubai Metro, in combination with the Red Line would be the world’s largest driverless rail network.
