Dubai Metro Extension to Start in April 2016

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Work on Route 2020, the 14.5-kilometre extension of the Dubai Metro, will begin in April, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced.

Wider platforms, easily accessible escalators and lifts to quickly disperse crowds and three tracks instead of two for the Expo stations are some of the changes planned along the route. More trains will be purchased for the extended line, which has seven stations – five elevated and two underground.

Shahrin Salam, chief engineer of the RTA’s rail operations department, told government officials from the region and heads of infrastructure companies attending the Mena Rail and Metro Summit yesterday that the Route 2020 project work was likely to start “in the second half of next year” after a consortium was selected in January.

In May, RTA executive director Mattar Al Tayer outlined the timeline for Route 2020, which will connect the Nakheel Harbour and Tower stations on the Red Line with the Expo 2020 site.

The authority released tender documents in July. Submissions will close in December with an announcement the following month on the winning consortium.

An increase in passengers and lessons learnt from the existing 47 stations across the 75km Red and Green Line routes had helped planners to make changes in the new design to allow for smoother movement of trains.

“One of the major changes from the first design, and what goes up on tender, is that the Expo stations’ original design called for two-track platforms,” Mr Salam said.

“After careful evaluation of operational requirements and contingency planning we changed the design to a three-track platform so we have a middle track that almost automatically gives us the flexibility to divert trains.”

The new metro link will serve communities with high-density populations, covering communities including Discovery Gardens, Al Furjan, Jumeirah Golf Estate and Dubai Investment Park.

The number of residents served by the route was estimated at 240,000.

It would eventually go beyond the Expo venue and connect to Al Maktoum International Airport. Travel time from Dubai Marina to the Expo site will be 16 minutes.

In the first half of this year, the metro carried 88.2 million passengers – more than the 81.4 million passengers recorded over the same period last year.

A record 9.9 million passengers was recorded in March, with an average daily ridership of 500,000.

“The ridership growth will bring the need for a larger fleet size of trains, so this project will also require an additional fleet to be procured,” Mr Salam said.