Four express trains to ply on Red Line from today

Starting today, trip time on the Dubai Metro Red Line will be reduced with four express trains being introduced on a trial basis for five months.

Ramadan Abdullah, Director of the Metro Trains Operation Department, said: “The four express trains will be plying on the Red Line between Jebel Ali metro station and Al Rashidiya and the other way round.” He pointed out that the new service will reduce the trip time by 10 minutes as the express trains will take around 40 minutes for a one-way trip.

The express trains will start operating at 5.30am, 20 minutes earlier than the actual operation time of the metro’s regular service, from Jebel Ali and Al Rashidiya stations. Each train will stop only at 13 main stations in both directions instead of 27, and they are Al Rashidiya, Emirates, Al Rigga, Union, Khalid Bin Al Waleed, Al Karama, Al Jafiliya, Emirates Towers, Noor Islamic Bank, First Gulf Bank, Dubai Internet City, Ibn Battuta and Jebel Ali stations, he added.

“This service has been launched on a trial basis for a period of five months based on requests made by the metro users who voiced their need to reach their workplaces early without stopping at every metro station.”

The ticket price for a trip between Jebel Ali and Al Rashidiya will remain unchanged, Abdullah pointed out. He revealed that a survey would be conducted to evoke opinions of Metro riders on the effectiveness of the service.

Metro upgrades

The RTA is also planning art and cultural themes in addition to the commercial opportunities on the metro. Plans are on to further integrate public transport in order to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. This can be achieved through Transit Oriented Developments, which are, as the name suggests, developments integrated into public transport infrastructure.

Abdullah identified the Union Square metro station as an ideal location to commence such a pilot project. The development above/adjacent to the metro station is envisaged to be a mixed use development, which may include residential, retail or commercial entities along with anchor community spaces and civic facilities.

“Once developed, the project will be identified as an example of one of the first Transit Oriented Developments in the Middle East. It will serve as a multimodal public transport hub that will revitalise and have a positive impact on the social and commercial development of the surrounding areas,” he said

The project will be built under public-private partnership, with the private party given a concession to finance, develop, operate and maintain the facility.

malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com