UAE: Construction of Dubai’s 30 km metro Blue Line was formally approved on November 24 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Expected to cost Dh18bn to complete, the fully automated Blue Line will connect Dubai Creek Marina, Festival City, International City, Al Rashidiya, Al Warqaa, and Mirdif, as well as urban development zones such as Oasis. Silicon and Academic City.
Serving a catchment area with around 1 million inhabitants, the line is expected to carry up to 320 000 passengers per day. Half of the planned route will be in tunnel, running up to 70 m below ground. There will be 14 stations, of which seven will be elevated, and three interchanges to the existing two-line network.
Having opened its first line in September 2009, Dubai now claims the world’s longest driverless metro. Completion of the Blue Line will increase the network to 131 route-km serving 78 stations, worked by a fleet of 168 trains.
The emirate’s Roads & Transport Authority has already invited expressions of interest in a design and build contract for the Blue Line, as well as the supply of 28 trainsets and construction of a depot with capacity for up to 60 trains. According to RTA Director-General Mattar Al Tayer, the authority hopes to award the contract next year, so that tunnel boring can start in 2025. Trial running is expected to begin during 2028, with the line opening for revenue service in 2029.
‘The Dubai Metro is part of the spirit of Dubai’, commented Sheikh Mohammed. ‘Dubai’s daily life is linked to it, connected through it, and connected to all its neighbourhoods and residents with its presence. Some 2 billion people have used it since its launch in 2009, and billions of people will use it for decades to come, God willing.’
