By Majorie van Leijen http://www.emirates247.com
If you missed the news last week, you would think a new metro station has been added to the Red Line of Dubai Metro, as the announcement of ‘Noor Bank station’ sounds somewhat unfamiliar.
In fact, the metro station was renamed following the rebranding of the adjacent Noor Islamic Bank -now Noor Bank- to which it owns its station name.
Another name change will take place on the metro line soon, although the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) did not reveal which station that would be. However, it did elaborate on the successful ‘Naming Rights Project’ of Dubai Metro.
As soon as the completion of the development of the countries’ first metro network was in sight, the public was offered the opportunity to share its anticipated success, with the first tenders opened back in 2008.
“The RTA understands that Dubai Metro has an incredible value as a communication and promotional platform, including Naming Right opportunities for some of their stations on both lines (Red and Green). It will increase national and international companies’ brand awareness and reinforce their positioning in Dubai. In addition, partners will take part in developing the most advanced urban rail system,” the RTA writes on its website.
Five years down the line, there are 13 stations that are named after partners, such as Noor Bank, Nakheel, First Gulf Bank, Etisalat, and more recently Burjuman and Danube.
Although not all stations are available for renaming as they adhere to historic landmarks or areas, a selected number of stations is open for the bid, with the RTA selecting only the most suitable partners.
There are certain standard requirements that must be followed by everybody, explains Youssef Al Ali, CEO of the Public Transportation Agency (PTA) at RTA. More info
