Tag: green line

A look at the Dubai RTA Metro

Dubai With a crime rate of 1.5 per million trips in 2011, Dubai Metro has become one of the safest means of public transport in the world, surpassing world-renowned railways in the US and Europe, it was announced Thursday. Speaking at a ceremony to honour distinguished employees and cooperating departments and establishments, Lt Col Thani said the four-year-old department now covers public buses and marine transport, as well as Dubai Metro.

Since starting operation in September 2011, the Green Line of the Dubai Metro has seen ridership levels beyond expectations with as much as 11,849,172 passengers travelling through the Green Line up to last January. Ramadan Abdullah, Director of Rail Operation at RTA Rail Agency, said: “The growing numbers of passengers using the Green Line reflect the substantial evolution in the culture of community members vis-à-vis the use of mass transit.”

Dubai Metro video 2012

All the Metro stations are under the careful eye of security personnel. Smartly dressed customer service staff makes sure that everything is in place. The customer service staff and security personnel are always ready with a smile to assist you and guide you the right way in and out of Metro.

There was a time not so long ago when the Metro was seen as an exercise in mild futility. The general if uninformed public consensus was that Dubai was a car-centric town and that no executive would deign to take a train to work and that these blue streaks would go empty.

“We moved from five to seven zones, and the fare has largely gone down particularly for monthly Nol card subscribers and people living near labour camp areas on the side of Al Qusais. It remained unchanged for some and rose a little bit for a few.”

Governments in the GCC have instigated plans for multi-billion dollar transport and networking projects that will help further the region's clout as a magnet for international logistics and engineering service providers. The countries of the GCC are set to spend over $100bn on setting up modern rail networks connecting all countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

Al Tayer focused on parking provision for buses and taxis at each station as well as the state of roads leading to stations and signs. He was joined by Adnan Al Hamadi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Rail Agency of the RTA and other senior officials.

"I heard that there was a problem yesterday but I came down to see whether it had been fixed," said Anthony Connell, 32 from the UK who was traveling to Dubai Mall. "They said it was OK and it looks like it's working fine. But you never know if the same problem could come up again."