By Ashfaq Ahmed, Chief Reporter www.gulfnews.com
Dubai:Â Seven more stations on the Red Line of Dubai Metro opened at 2pm on Friday.
Huge rush of commuters were seen at most of the new stations. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) officials, including Adnan Al Hammadi, Acting CEO of Rail Agency, and Ramadan Abdullah, Director of Operations, were visiting stations to ensure smooth launching of the new stations.
With the introduction of the new stations on Red Line, the frequency of the trains will also be increased in a gradual manner, authorities said. The trains will run with frequency of six minutes during peak hours and eight minutes frequency during off-peak time.
The seven metro stations opened today include: Emirates, Airport Terminal 1, Al Karama, Emirates Towers, Dubai Internet City, Marina and Ibn Battuta
Earlier, Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA said that the number would be hiked to 20 from the existing 12 during peak hours while 15 trains will operate during off-peak hours.
He said that Metro operator Serco has also done successful trial run of the trains.
The Metro has lifted about 13.68 million passengers and the number of daily commuters is about 80,000 passengers. The number is geared to rise in excess of 140,000 with the opening of the new metro stations. The number of the metro users is estimated to hit 35 million passengers in 2010 and is likely to receive a further boost in August 2011 with the operation of the Green Line, which serves vital areas with intense commercial and public activities.
