The idea for Dubai Metro was first posited in 1990, its design formulated 14 years later, in 2004. In 2005, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries signed the building contract, and in September 2009… well, here we are waiting to see how it will alter our lives.
Mr Abdulmohsin Ibrahim Younes, Dubai RTA’s CEO of Strategy and Corporate Governance, thinks change is inevitable. ‘This project is capable of transforming the behavioural pattern, lifestyle and thoughts of many people in Dubai,’ he told us back in June. Well, sure – there’ll be no looking back for our neighbours up the road, but how will the snazzy blue trains help us here in Abu Dhabi?
For a start, they’ll give us something to look forward to. The Abu Dhabi Department of Transport hopes to have our own metro operational by 2015. Couple that with the LRT (Light Rail Transit, arriving 2014) and a planned waterway system, and the gridlock stresses of Salam Street will be a distant memory. As is often the way, the capital will take it slowly, observing the difficulties that Dubai encounters and working a way around them. If Dubai thinks it has the best metro in the world, their celebrations may well be short-lived.
On a practical level, the Dubai Metro will help commuters – though not necessarily those that plan to ride the train. Without breaking speed limits, Time Out Abu Dhabi has managed the journey between Maqta Bridge and Jebel Ali Metro Station in just less than an hour. Once you’ve grabbed a parking place, bought your tickets and found your way to the platform, you’ll have added 20 minutes to your journey, time that would usually have you flying past the Trade Centre – perhaps further, considering the expected decrease in traffic along Dubai’s main arteries. But at the very least it’ll break the monotony of the journey, and that’ll be welcome relief indeed.
The metro may even help us plot our way through the maze that is Dubai’s back streets, though we’re aware that we write this at the risk of sounding like country bumpkins. Anyone who has attempted to drive to a new Dubai destination without the aid of a GPS system will know that arriving on time is an impossible science. With the arrival of the train, we might find ourselves sticking more closely to schedule, although travelling on time won’t be completely possible until the two cities negotiate a direct rail link, and that, at the moment, is the stuff of dreams.
Visit www.dubaimetro.eu for more info
