By Eugene Harnan www.thenational.ae
DUBAI // Part of the Metro system’s 52km Red Line was closed this evening after a small fire broke out on the tracks.
The line was closed at stations between Al Jafiliya and Terminal 3 after passengers spotted the blaze between 6.15pm to 6.30pm.
Aman Coco, 31, an IT consultant from the UK, was on a train bound for Jebel Ali at the time of the fire.
“The train was about 150 metres outside the Union station when we saw all this grey smoke in the tunnel and a fire coming up from the other track,” he said.
“We could see the fire between the two tracks which was about the size of a campfire,” added Mr Coco.
A spokesman for the RTA said there were no injuries reported but could not determine if there was any damage to the tracks.
Peyman Younes Parham, director of marketing and corporate communications department at the RTA, said: “There were reports of smoke in the tunnel at Union station and all the emergency procedures were taken as a precaution.”
Mr Coco said passengers were taking photos and videos of the fire.
“I was amazed at how relaxed everybody was on train. When I got off at Mall of the Emirates station, the staff were telling people that the line was temporarily closed,” he added.
Mr Parham said a bus service was provided for those traveling between Al Jafiliya station and Terminal 3 station but the remaining six stations were still operational.
“We hope to have the line up and running later tonight or tomorrow morning,” said Mr Parham last night.
The 52km Red Line line, which is electrified, was opened on September 9 last year. This is the first major incident on the line to force it to shut temporarily.
It is still running on a trial basis and only 11 of the 29 stations are in operation. A further seven stations are scheduled to open on April 25.
