DUBAI - The ‘future’ of the Blue Line of the Dubai Metro will solely depend on the progress of developments at the Emirates Road, a senior official of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said on Wednesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Middle East Rail Projects Conference, Abdul Redha Abu Al Hassan, Director of Planning and Development at the RTA, said that the fact that the construction of the Blue Line will start immediately after the Purple Line is operational, was undecided till late. “If we find that there are a considerable amount of residences and population along the road, we will start with the construction. However, right now we are not very sure as to when the construction of the particular line will start,” he said.
According to the laid out plan, the Blue Line of the Dubai Metro will be 47 km long and will run along the whole Emirates Road and will also provide a shuttle service between the two airports. The official said that the initial plan was to start off with the construction of the Blue Line once the Green Line was completed.
Now, the RTA has swapped the plan stating that it will be the Purple Line before the Blue Line. In addition to this, the Purple Line will take in an extra two years to get completed.
“Earlier, the RTA had planned to start with the Blue Line, once the Green Line is completed by 2010. But now the plan stands changed and it will be the Purple Line first. The construction of this Line is expected to get over only by 2014,” he said. The Dh15.5 billion Dubai Metro Project consists of 4 Lines or routes, namely the Red Line, Green Line, Blue Line and the Purple Line. The Red Line will be operational from September 9 next year.
The Green Line, expected to get completed by 2010, will run through densely populated areas like Deira, Bur Dubai, Al Qusais, Al Nahda etc. The Purple Line of the Metro will be an express service linking the Jebel Ali Airport with Dubai International Airport. joy@khaleejtimes.com