Gulf Construction Online - RTA opens seven metro stations

UAE Focus

The Al Qudra Bridge ... a key feature of Dubai Bypass Road.

RTA opens seven metro stations

01 June 2010

THE Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has opened seven new metro stations – Emirates, Airport Terminal One, Al Karama, Emirates Towers, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Marina, and Ibn Battuta.

Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the board and executive director, RTA, said the new stations were ready to receive passengers. About 20 trains will be operated during peak time and 15 trains during off-peak time and the frequency of the service will be every six minutes during peak time and every eight minutes during off-peak time.
“The contractor has put the final touches to the new stations, including the finishing work on the floors, fitting and commissioning of escalators and lifts, internal lighting and fittings required for passengers with special needs, such as tactile floor guiding optically-impaired commuters to their intended destinations, in addition to the audio-visual (PA) public address systems,” he said.
The interior design of the stations has been historically inspired and themed after the four elements of nature – water, air, fire and earth. Air-conditioned pedestrian footbridges that links the metro stations with both sides of the road have also been inspected.

Al Tayer

Since its opening last September, as of March-end, Dubai Metro has ferried about 13.68 million passengers at an average rate of 80,000 per day. This number is expected to rise by more than 10,000 with the opening of the new metro stations. The number of the metro users is estimated to hit 35 million passengers this year and is likely to receive a further boost in August 2011 with the operation of the Green Line, which serves key areas of commercial and public activities as well as high population densities.
Meanwhile, the RTA has completed the revamp of the Shindagha Tunnel which included intensive preventive and corrective maintenance of the tunnel as well as its main facilities.
Additionally, the RTA has opened the Al Qudra Bridge across the Dubai Bypass. The bridge comprising three lanes in each direction, extending from Umm Suqeim Road, via the Al Qudra area towards Bab Al Shams Hotel.
“The Dh96-million ($26.15 million) project is one of the key phases of the six-lane Dubai Bypass Road, which is considered a highly strategic project in the structural masterplan of RTA roads network. The project provides an alternative road to emirates Road and Sheikh Zayed Road, offering motorists inbound from the Northern Emirates and outbound to Abu Dhabi Emirate and vice versa an external corridor without having to enter downtown area.
According to Al Tayer, the fourth and final phase of the Dubai Bypass Road is receiving its final touches. The last phase, extending from the roundabout at Jebel Ali-Al Hibab Road to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi emirate, is set to be opened in the third quarter of this year.
With this, RTA will complete all phases of Dubai Bypass Road, which extends from the outskirts of Sharjah emirate and to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi emirate.