Metro station opens for JAFZA commuters only

Dozens of enthusiastic workers from Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) thronged the local metro station as it opened for commuters for the first time at 1pm sharp on Friday.

The station, first to open in JAFZA and 27^th overall on the Red Line, had been awaited for the last 18 months.

The Jebel Ali station, which is one of the largest with a handling capacity of 11,000 passengers in each direction, is expected to attract at least 4,000 more commuters to the already popular metro with a daily ridership of around 175,000.

However, the station is dedicated only for JAFZA residents and workers, as the access to outsiders from the south side is blocked.

“Yes, the station is open from the north side only, because this station is dedicated for JAFZA people only. There is no access to the south side as yet but once the work on roads and ramps are completed outside the station on the south side, we might decide to open the gate on the south side as well,” said Ramadan Abdullah, director of metro operations at the Rail Agency of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

This will mean, people living near the station but outside the limits of JAFZA and have no access to the free zone will have to go all the way to the next closest station — Ibn Battuta, 8km away — to board the trains.

“The station is technically inside JAFZA and the free zone can be accessed by those who have passes only. That is why we are dedicating this for JAFZA workers only. If we get good response from this station, we might think of opening one of the other two stations in the area, which could be accessed by outsiders,” he added.

He urged the people from the surrounding areas to either use Ibn Battuta or Nakheel Harbour and Towers station.

Interestingly, the RTA has started with one feeder bus route, F54, from the station, contrary to the four announced earlier. But the route winds through both the north and south side of JAFZA. The RTA has also ensured that a lot of companies will introduce shuttle services from their premises to the station.

Though the opening of the station has added another eight kilometres to the Red Line, the total journey time from Rashidiya to Jebel Ali has increased only from one hour two minutes to one hour nine minutes.

This is made possible by the reduction in stoppage time at each station as well as better frequency of trains.

“We have reduced the train stoppage time at most stations to 15 seconds with only the major stations having a stoppage time of around 30 seconds. The headway is also reduced with morning peak hour frequency coming down from eight minutes to six minutes, while the headway at evening peak hours is reduced from six minutes to five minutes,” said Abdullah.

shafaat@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE