By Neeraj Gangal www.arabianbusiness.com
Following its launch on the 9th of September 2009, nearly 3 million passengers have used the Dubai metro in the first two months of its operation, the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) reported on Friday.
“We are pleased with the public’s patronage on the Dubai Metro as we take inspiration from it to continuously provide them a world class service and environment in the Stations” Abdul Mohsen Ibrahim, CEO of Strategy and Corporate Governance Sector at RTA, said in a press release.
“In line with this, we are progressively opening retail outlets in the stations to add value to our passenger’s daily lives as they in turn help create a sustainable business environment for our strategic retail partners.”
The increase in passenger flow has created a sustainable business environment for retailers present in the stations, the RTA said. The retailers not only capitalise in high passenger traffic but on marketing exposure to the public as well, it added.
The RTA also announced that they have released the tender, to lease out the last batch of retail outlets available on the Red Line.
The shops are mainly located in City Centre, Al Rigga, Union Square, Khalid Bin Al Waleed, Burj Dubai and Nakheel stations.
“This is the last window opens for the Red Line. We have received many requests from the market and have put together this very last batch of shops to meet the demand,” said Ibrahim.
Retailers such as UAE Exchange, Community Health and Netlink’s Internet Heroes as well as F&B operators like MH Alshaya’s Starbucks, the Alphamed Group and Tradeline LLC’s Chowking already have their branches in Dubai Metro.
EPPCO’s Aqua and Fresh Fruits Company are also the successful bidders now progressively opening their shops along the Red Line, the press release said.
“RTA welcomes new retails to join the Dubai Metro mega project and be part of the success. We look forward to a long term partnership with them for mutual benefit and better customer service to our passenger,” said by Abdul Mohsen.
Tender is available for purchase at the RTA Headquarters at Marrakech Road.
