Tag: Red Line

As Free Public Transport Day approaches, Kipp assembles a guide for first-time Metro users. As it commemorates its fifth anniversary, the RTA will be offering free travel all day for holders of a Nol card on November 1. The move comes as part of an effort to increase the number of residents using public transport from the current 12 percent to 34 percent within the next ten years.

Adnan Al Hamadi, the CEO of the Rail Agency of RTA, said: “During weekdays from Saturday to Wednesday, the Metro operation will be from 6am up to 11 pm. On Thursdays it will be operational from 6am to 12 midnight. On Fridays the Metro service will be from 1pm to 12 midnight.” Al Hamadi said that the change also included slashing the stop time at stations from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.

On the fifth anniversary of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), all NOL card holders can enjoy free rides on the Metro, waterbuses and city buses. The announcement was made by Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the and Executive Director of the RTA while addressing the 125th anniversary of the International Association of Public Transport in Brussels, reported Gulf News. NOL cards can be used on any of the RTA transport facilities.

Well, not quite. But many commuters did a double take when they found eggs seemingly sizzling in the summer heat on car hoods in Dubai Media City, Internet City and Deira. The sunny-side-up culprits, printed on palm-sized cards and mounted on magnets, were part of a Dubai Metro advertising campaign to get people out of their cars and onto the Metro. The small lettering on the egg white read: “It’s a cool 20°C on the Metro”.

There have been two distinct reactions from my friends in Dubai about the announcement that the Metro’s Green Line will open next August. One group, comprised of students, artists, environmentalists and mostly working class folks, is upset that they will have to wait so long. The other couldn’t care less.

The Metro system’s Green Line is on track to open in August as testing to evaluate its preparedness continues. Ramadan Mohammed, the director of the Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) rail operations department, said regular trials were carried out through the Ramadan period to assess the line’s track, brake and power systems.

Dubai Metro may have altered the commuting scene in this car-loving city, but a year after the first train left the station winning over the hard-core motorists remains an uphill struggle. Despite Dubai's severe financial crisis however, the rail authority is determined to complete its second line, delayed for more than a year.

Dubai Metro is a driverless, fully automated Metro network built at a cost of Dh28 billion. The number of stations which are currently operational on the Red Line number 21, from a total of 29. The remaining eight stations on the same line are expected to be opened by the end of the year.

News of Dubai Metro opening last year was the reason for Arif Khan's decision to continue living in the UAE. Now, he does not ride it any more. Khan, a Pakistani national, stopped riding the Metro when he had to move to Al Ghusais with his family in March.

By Elizabeth Broomhal www.constructionweekonline.com Launched on the ninth day of the ninth month of 2009 at 09:09pm, the Dubai Metro was the first mass urban...