The Dubai Metro is a rapid transit rail network in the city of

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, United Arab Emirates. It is currently operated by the French company

Keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. ...

. The Red Line and Green Line are operational, with a major 15 km (9.3 mi) extension to the Red Line known as

Route 2020 The Red Line is one of the two lines on the Dubai Metro network in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Red Line runs from Rashidiya in the east to Jebel Ali in the west and travels parallel to Sheikh Zayed Road for most of its length. There are ...

to the

Expo 2020 Expo 2020 ( ar, إكسبو 2020) was a World Expo hosted by Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. Originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 ...

site announced in April 2015 and opened in 2021. These first two lines run underground in the city centre and on

elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...

viaducts A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide va ...

elsewhere. All trains are fully automated and driverless, and, together with stations, are air conditioned with

platform edge doors Platform screen doors (PSDs), also known as platform edge doors (PEDs), are used at some train, rapid transit and people mover stations to separate the platform from train tracks, as well as on some bus rapid transit, tram and light rail sys ...

. Architecture firm

Aedas Aedas is an architectural firm with eleven International offices founded by the Welsh architect Keith Griffiths. Aedas provides services in architecture, interior design, urban design, masterplanning and graphic design. It was established in 2002 ...

designed the metro's 45 stations, two depots and operational control centers. The

Al Ghurair Investment Al Ghurair (Arabic:الغرير), also known as Al Ghurair Investment LLC, was established in 1960. Al Ghurair is one of the largest diversified family business groups in the Middle East, with six key business units: Foods, Resources, Properties ...

group were the metro's builders. The first section of the Red Line, covering 10 stations, was ceremonially inaugurated at 9:09:09 pm on 9 September 2009, by

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai ...

, Ruler of Dubai, with the line opening to the public at 6 am (UTC 04:00) on 10 September. The Dubai Metro is the first urban train network in the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

and either the second in the

Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

(after the Cairo Metro) or the third (if the surface-level, limited-service

Baghdad Metro The Baghdad Metro is a proposed rapid transit in the form of an elevated railway, network for the Iraqi city of Baghdad. Construction is expected to start around Q2 2022 and finish in 2027. Background Commuter rail service The Baghdad commuter ...

is counted). It is the fourth in the Middle East, as Iran and Israel also have Metros. More than 110,000 people, or nearly 10 percent of Dubai's population, used the Metro in its first two days of operation. The Dubai Metro carried 10 million passengers from launch on 9 September 2009 to 9 February 2010 with 11 stations operational on the Red Line. Engineering consultancy Atkins provided full multidisciplinary design and management of the civil works on Dubai Metro. Until 2016, the Dubai Metro was the world's longest driverless metro network with a route length of , as recognized by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

in 2012. The system was surpassed by the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

SkyTrain in 2016 for the longest fully automated system in the world but regained the title in 2021 with the opening of Route 2020. However, its total route length have since been surpassed by the automated lines of the

Singapore MRT The Mass Rapid Transit system, locally known by the initialism MRT, is a rapid transit system in Singapore and the island country's principal mode of railway transportation. The system commenced operations in November 1987 after two decades of ...

. Nevertheless, the Red Line, at , remains the world's longest driverless single metro line.

Construction

Planning of the Dubai Metro began under the directive of Dubai's Ruler,

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai. ...

, who expected other projects to attract 15 million visitors to Dubai by 2010. The combination of a rapidly growing population (expected to reach 3 million by 2017) and severe traffic congestion necessitated the building of an urban rail system to provide additional

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

capacity, relieve motor traffic, and provide infrastructure for additional development. In 2004, five consortium were shortlisted to build the first section: *

Bilfinger Berger Bilfinger SE (previously named Bilfinger Berger AG) is a German company specialized in civil and industrial construction, engineering and services based in Mannheim, Germany. History Bilfinger dates back to 1880 when August Bernatz founded Be ...

Taisei Corporation is a Japanese corporation founded in 1873. Its main areas of business are building construction, civil engineering, and real estate development. Taisei's headquarters are located at Shinjuku Center Building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo. ...

Besix BESIX Group is a construction group based in Brussels, one of the world's leading international contractors according to the ENR ranking. Active since 1909, BESIX operates in Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, North America and Asia. Its a ...

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

* Vinci,

Hochtief Hochtief AG is a German construction company based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.Ansaldo *

Obayashi Obayashi may refer to: *Obayashi Corporation, one of five major Japanese construction companies * Obayashi (surname), a Japanese surname *Obayashi Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Takarazuka Hyōgo Prefecture, ...

Yapı Merkezi Yapı Merkezi Holding A.Ş. is a group company whose field of activity is primarily in the construction industry. It was founded in 1965 by Ersin Arioglu and Koksal Anadol in Istanbul. As the first and largest company of the Yapı Merkezi Group, ...

& Mitsubishi *

Odebrecht Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...

& Bombardier *

Saudi Binladin Group Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) is a Saudi construction company headquartered in Jeddah, Hejaz. It is the largest construction company of the Middle East. The company is owned primarily by the Bin Laden family. Founded by Muhammad Binladin in 1931, ...

, Diwidag &

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

In May 2005, a AED 12.45 billion/US$3.4 billion design and build contract was awarded to the Dubai Rail Link (DURL) consortium made up of Japanese companies including

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...

Mitsubishi Corporation is Japan's largest trading company (sogo shosha) and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemical ...

Obayashi Corporation is one of five major Japanese construction companies along with Shimizu Corporation, Takenaka Corporation, Kajima Corporation, and Taisei Corporation. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is one of the Nikkei 225 corporations. Its head ...

Kajima Corporation is one of the oldest and largest construction companies in Japan. Founded in 1840, the company has its headquarters in Motoakasaka, Minato, Tokyo. The company is known for its DIB-200 proposal. The company stock is traded on four leading Japa ...

and Turkish firm

,Dubai metro contract awarded
'' Railway Gazette International'' 1 July 2007 and the Project Management ('The Engineer') and Construction Management services contract awarded to a French-American joint venture between

Systra SYSTRA is a multinational engineering and consulting group in the mobility sector, whose fields of activity include rail and public transport. In 2019, it employed a staff of about 7,300 people, and is a limited company which shareholders includ ...

and

Parsons Corporation Parsons Corporation (Parsons) is an American technology-focused defense, intelligence, security, and infrastructure engineering firm headquartered in Centreville, Virginia. The company was founded in 1944. Parsons has more than 16,000 employees ...

. The first phase (worth AED 15.5 billion/US$4.2 billion) covers of the proposed network, including the Red Line between

Al Rashidiya Al Rashidiya ( ar, الراشدية) is a locality in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Al Rashidiya is located south of Dubai International Airport in Deira, the eastern region of Dubai. The locality is bounded to the north by route D 8 ...

and the

Jebel Ali Free Zone Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza; Arabic: (جافزا) المنطقة الحرّة لجبل علي al-Munṭaqa al-Ḥurra le Jabal ʿAlī) is a free economic zone located in the Jebel Ali area at the far western end of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, nea ...

set for completion by September 2009 and the Green Line from

Al Qusais Al Qusais or Al Gusais ( ar, اﻟﻘﺼﻴﺺ ) is a large community in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is located in the Deira area of east Dubai. Al Qusais borders the localities of Hor Al Anz and Al Twar and is further subdivided int ...

2 to

Al Jaddaf Al Jaddaf ( ar, الجداف), also spelled Al Jadaf, is a locality in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Located in western Dubai in Bur Dubai, Al Jaddaf is bordered to the north and east by the Dubai Creek, to the south by Zabeel, and to the we ...

1. This was to be completed by June 2010. A second phase contract was subsequently signed in July 2006 and includes extensions to the initial routes. The Red Line partially opened at 9 minutes and 9 seconds past 9 pm on 9 September 2009 (9/9/9 9:09:09 PM), inaugurated by Sheikh

Cost issues

The construction cost of the Dubai Metro project has shot up by about 80 percent from the original AED 15.5 billion/US$4.2 billion to AED 28 billion/US$7.8 billion. The authorities contradicted this, saying that the cost of the project did not overshoot. They attributed the increase in expenditure to the major changes in the scope and design of the project. The authorities also expect to generate AED 18 billion/US$4.9 billion in income over the next 10 years, but they speculate that the Metro would not be a profit-making enterprise since the fares would be subsidized.

Delays

Dubai Metro Red Line Viaduct on 22 November 2007

Work officially commenced on the construction of the metro on 21 March 2006. In February 2009, an RTA Rail Agency official stated the US$4.2 billion Dubai Metro project would be completed on schedule despite the global crisis. However, only 10 out of 29 metro stations of the Red Line opened on 9 September 2009. Construction of the 18 stations on the Red Line and another 18 on the Green Line restarted on 7 February 2010, according to contractors, after a settlement was reached with a Japanese-led consortium over disputed payments of about US$2 billion–US$3 billion. Construction of all 29 metro stations on the Red Line was declared complete on 28 April 2010 by the acting chief of the RTA Rail Agency. Seven more stations on the Dubai Metro Red Line opened on 30 April 2010. Ten new trains were pressed into service, giving a total of 22 trains in service when the stations opened. The seven stations are Emirates Station, Airport Terminal 1 Station,

Dubai Internet City Dubai Internet City (DIC) ( ar, مدينة دبي للإنترنت) is an information technology and business park created by the Government of Dubai as a free economic zone and a strategic base for companies targeting regional emerging markets ...

(TECOM) Station, Al Karama Station (now ADCB), Emirates Towers Station, Dubai Marina Station (now SOBHA REALTY), and Ibn Battuta Station. In addition to this, a further three stations were opened on 15 May 2010; GGICO Station and World Trade Center Station. Furthermore, Business Bay Station, First Gulf Bank Station (Now First Abu Dhabi Bank),

mashreq The Mashriq ( ar, ٱلْمَشْرِق), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa. Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the n ...

(Al Barsha) Station, Al Khail (Emirates Golf Club) Station, and Jumeirah Lakes Towers Station (Now DMCC) were opened on 15 October 2010. After much delay, Jebel Ali Station, the terminus of the Red Line on the Abu Dhabi side was opened on 11 March 2011, and Jebel Ali Industrial Station, renamed

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

Station, was opened on 12 December 2012. The final two stations, Al Jadaf and Creek, on the Green Line were opened on 1 March 2014.

Operation

The Dubai Metro is operated by

keolis Keolis is a multinational transportation company that operates public transport systems. The company manages bus, rapid transit, tram, coach networks, rental bikes, car parks, water taxi, cable car, trolleybus and funicular services. ...

under contract to the Roads & Transport Authority. It has been renewed a number of times, most recently in March 2019. In March 2021, the French-Japanese consortium of

and

was announced as a new operator from 8 September 2021. Red Line trains run every 5 to 7 minutes off-peak (averaging 8.5 trains per hour), with a minimum headway of 3 minutes 45 seconds (16 trains per hour) during peak hours, with 44 trainsets in service. Trains from the Red Line and Green Line can depart differently due to technical glitches. From 2010, when 51 trains were in service, the line had a peak-hour capacity of 11,675 passengers per hour in each direction. , the Red Line operates 60 trains (train registrations 5001–5045, 5065–5079) The theoretical maximum design capacity is 25,720 passengers per hour, which would require 106 trains. The Green Line had an initial capacity of 6,395 passengers per hour per direction, with 19 trains (train registrations 5046–5064) in service as of September 2014. The design capacity of this route is put at 13,380 passengers per hour with 60 trains in service.

Ridership

Over 280,000 passengers used the Dubai Metro during the first week of its operation. Before launch, Dubai Municipality Public Transport Department expected the metro to provide transport for 12% of all trips in Dubai. After the first month of operation (on a limited network), the monthly total was 1,740,578 passengers, which equates to under 60,000 passengers/day. After the opening of more stations in May 2010, ridership surged to 103,002 passengers/day and reached 130,000/day by the beginning of October 2010. When the Green Line opened on 9 September 2011, passengers on the Red Line was noted as 180,000/day. In 2013, passengers rose to 377,000/day, split 64% for the Red Line and 36% for the Green Line. During the first half of 2015, RTA announced that 88,252,034 passengers have used the metro. In August 2017, RTA announced that total ridership since 2009 had surpassed 1 billion total trips.

One issue for the new system was how to reliably and comfortably get riders to their final destination if it is not located near a metro station. The RTA has added "feeder bus routes" also known as Metro link buses. Seen in Blue and White. Which act as shuttle services to and from major locations in and around the station area. There are bus and taxi laybys constructed as well as drop off zones at each station for ease of passenger access. In addition 268 km of light rail lines are also planned, these will serve as feeders to the Dubai Metro. The

Dubai Tram The Dubai Tram ( ar, ترام دبي) is a tramway located in Al Sufouh, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It runs for along Al Sufouh Road from Dubai Marina to the Palm Jumeirah and Al Sufouh. The tram connects with the DMCC and Sobha Realty stat ...

is one of the light rail plans.

Signalling

To permit fully automated operation,

Thales Rail Signalling Solutions Thales Rail Signalling Solutions is a division of Thales Group that supplies transportation-based automation solutions for railways. Its operations are controlled from several locations: *its head office in Paris, France *its railway business div ...

is supplying its

SelTrac SelTrac is a digital railway signalling technology used to automatically control the movements of rail vehicles. It was the first fully automatic moving-block signalling system to be commercially implemented. What is now branded as SelTrac wa ...

communications-based train control Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accurat ...

and NetTrac central control technology. This is configured for a minimum headway of 90 seconds (40 trains per hour). The top speed of the trains is estimated to be around , giving a round-trip time of 2 hours 23 minutes for the Red Line and 1 hour 23 minutes for the Green Line.

Lines

Existing

The first two lines of the Dubai Metro have of lines, and 47 stations (nine of them being underground). The red line stretches along the city from the Jebel Ali area to the border with

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital o ...

. It passes through several tourist attractions such as

Mall of the Emirates Mall of the Emirates ( ar, مول الإمارات) is a shopping mall in Dubai. Developed and owned by Majid Al Futtaim Group, it opened in November 2005 and is located at interchange four on Sheikh Zayed Road. The multi-level shopping mall cur ...

The Dubai Mall The Dubai Mall ( ar, دبي مول "Dubai Mall") is a shopping mall in Dubai. It is the second largest mall in the world after the Iran Mall by total land area, and the 26th-largest shopping mall in the world by gross leasable area, tying with ...

and Burj Khalifa. The green line, on the other hand, stays within the old Dubai area. It passes through many historical sites, such as the

Dubai Museum Dubai Museum ( ar, متحف دبي) is the main museum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is located in the Al Fahidi Fort ( ar, حصن الفهيدي), built in 1787 and is the oldest existing building in Dubai. The museum was opened by the Rul ...

, the

Gold Souk A Gold souk ( ar, سوق الذهب) is a gold market in Arab countries of Arabian Peninsula and particularly in GCC countries. The word ''souk'' is mostly used by Arabs for open markets. The term evolved through the expatriates settled in Gulf C ...

, the Spice Souk among others. Because of that, many stations near those places are themed on the history of Dubai, with photos depicting the UAE in the 1960s or earlier being on display within the station. Some stations are even specially designed with the architecture of traditional Emirati houses, mirroring the architecture in the surrounding area.

Latest finished projects

: A 15 kilometer (9 mi) extension with seven new stations (including two underground) already built which starts at the Jebel Ali Station and ending at the

Site. Future plans will also extend this line to the

Al Maktoum International Airport Al Maktoum International Airport , also known as Dubai World Central, is an international airport in Jebel Ali, southwest of Dubai, United Arab Emirates that opened on 27 June 2010. It is the main part of Dubai South, a planned reside ...

. The extension is served by new, redesigned trains from

. The extension opened in stages in 2021. Since Red Line trains now run directly on the new track to Expo 2020, the Red Line section from Jabal Ali to UAE Exchange is now run as a separate branch line.

Summary of lines

Proposed

In 2011, the RTA stated that there are no "immediate plans" to build the Blue and Purple lines "in the next five or six years". This is mainly because the planned area is empty and developing. In 2013, the RTA laid out a three-phase plan to expand the existing lines and build new ones: extending the Green Line by 12 stations and to Academic City by 2020; expanding the overall system by 58 stations and by 2025 and completing expansion with a total of 69 stations and 221 km over and above the present 47 stations and that are present as of January 2013. * Purple Line: along Al Khail Road (E44). The line will extend from the

to Muhaisnah, a locality near the border between Dubai and Sharjah. There will be about eight stations, three with check-in facilities. However, The Dubai Airports Authority claimed that this was unfeasible as it did not pass through many localities. They however suggested opting for a "central terminal" similar to those in Europe where trains leave from inside the airport to the other airport with trains also leaving to the city. The RTA have taken this into consideration. * Blue Line: along Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311). *Pink Line: The Pink Line is planned to run east–west with a terminus at Al Sufouh and is scheduled for completion by 2030.Dubai metro expansion plans
''Railway Gazette International'' 30 September 2014 *Gold Line: Announced as the 'Yellow Line' in April 2008 and confirmed in January 2013 as the 'Gold Line'. One of the stations planned for the Gold Line is the Dubailand Station, west of Meydan. The Gold Line will connect

Arabian Ranches Arabian Ranches is an upscale gated villa community in Dubai, United Arab Emirates launched in 2004. Located in Wadi Al Safa 6, along Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and in proximity to Dubai's Global Village. It includes the Arabian Ranches Golf ...

, Deira, and Dubai Marina and is scheduled to open by 2025. * Red Line Extension: and six new stations, terminating at the border with

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. No dates for completion announced. * Green Line Extension: The line could be further extended by 11 km from

International City An international city is an autonomous or semi-autonomous city-state that is separate from the direct supervision of any single nation-state. Rationale for establishment International cities have had either one or both of the following characte ...

under the Green Line extension project. In 2014, the RTA approved the recent proposal of extending the Red Line from Al Rashidiya station to Mirdif City Center which will increase 3.5 kilometers with the new station. However, there is also a proposal to extend it further to Al Warqa’a which is currently being studied. On the Green Line, the RTA finalized the extension plan of 20.6 kilometers from Al Jaddaf to Academic City in 2014. The extension is due to go through Festival City, Lagoons, Ras Al Khor Industrial Area, International City,

Dubai Silicon Oasis Dubai Silicon Oasis known as DSO ( ar, واحة دبي للسيليكون) is a free-trade zone established by the Dubai government in 2003, spanning an area of 7.2 square kilometers. History In 2003, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- ...

, and

Dubai Academic City Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), informally known as Academic City, is a university town in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates along the Dubai-Al Ain Road. The project was launched in May 2006 in liaison with Dubai Knowledge Park. T ...

. In 2018, the engineering firm

Aurecon Aurecon is an engineering, management, design, planning, project management, consulting and advisory company based in Australia, with operations in the Middle East, New Zealand and South East Asia. History Formed through the merger of three ...

produced a study into a 7.5 km express metro line from Al Qiyadah station on the Green Line till

. The line would cost AED 3 billion, and could reduce traffic congestion between the two cities by up to 30%.

Stations

Dubai Metro is composed of at-grade (G) elevated Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3 (T1, T2 and T3, respectively) underground stations (U) and underground transfer station types (UT). Type 1 is the regular at-grade concourse station, Type 2 is a regular elevated concourse station, and Type 3 is an elevated special track station with an extra track to hold a non-operational train. Underground transfer stations accommodate both the Red and Green lines for easy transfers. Besides these differences, there are five themes used in the interiors of the stations: The red line individually has 29 stations including the Interchange Stations between Green Line. The green line has 20 stations including the Interchange Stations between Red Line. Route 2020 (Connected with the Red Line from Jebel Ali) individually has 7 stations in total (including Jebel Ali; 6 without it). Inside the stations will have air conditions from 24 to 21 Celsius. # Heritage: Symbolizes the culture and history of the United Arab Emirates. # Earth: Marks the start of the Dubai modern and urban drive, which resembles the force and durability of earth and soil. # Air: Symbolizes the elation and joy that Dubai provides to residents and visitors. # Fire: Symbolizes the energy, vigour and strong will displayed by Dubai leaders. # Water: Symbolizes the human values which Dubai seeks to ensure in its modern achievements. The Earth stations have a tan-brown colour effects; water has blue-white colour effects; fire has orange-red colour effects; and the air has green colour effects.Dubai Rapid Link Consortium – Approved Red Line Project Model dtd. 5 Nov. 2006Dubai Rapid Link Consortium – Approved Green Line Project Model dtd. 19 Nov. 2006 Officials have negotiated with international and local companies over

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

for 23 stations on the two lines. This

corporate branding Corporate branding refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services. The activities and thinking that go into corporate branding are different from product and service branding ...

is the first of its kind. Some examples are:

BurJuman BurJuman ( ar, بر جمان) is one of the oldest shopping malls in Dubai, in the residential area of Bur Dubai, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is developed and owned by Al Ghurair Group. The distinctive landmark comprises over 2.8 million s ...

, Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall,

DAMAC Properties DAMAC Properties is an Emirati property development company, based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. In January 2015, DAMAC Properties was publicly listed on the Dubai Financial Market. The company operates internationally providing resident ...

and

UAE Exchange UAE Exchange ( ar, مركز الإمارات العربية المتحدة للصرافة ''Markaz Al'Imarat Alearabiat Almutahidat Lilsarafa'') is a United Arab Emirates based company dealing primarily in remittance, foreign exchange and bill ...

Parking

The Dubai Metro has built three large multi-level car parking with an estimated capacity to accommodate more than 8,000 vehicles for the passengers where they can park their car and ride the metro. The parking is free for the metro users.

Handicapped facilities

All metro stations have elevators and contrasting tactile guidance path to guide the visually impaired. There are also dedicated spaces for wheelchair users on all the trains. Handicapped passengers, also known as 'people of determination' in the UAE, can ride with any RTA service for free with a special, personalized

Nol Card The Nol Card is an electronic ticketing card that was released for all modes of public transport in Dubai services, in August 2009. The word Nol is an Arabic word نول for fare. The Nol Card system was developed by Hong Kong-based company Octo ...

Safety

Emergency stop buttons, intercoms and platform screen doors with corresponding flashing light signals are installed at every station for the safety of the passengers. Trains are equipped with emergency stop buttons, door release levers, intercoms and fire extinguishers. CCTV is operational throughout the entire network and in trains and police officers are regularly on patrol in the stations, especially during rush hours.

Telecommunication

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...

connectivity is available across all trains and stations which and is provided by ''du'' which is in par with the Wi-Fi UAE program which provides Wi-Fi connectivity across major parts of UAE. Mobile phone coverage is available across the entire network of the metro. The metro itself has Wi-Fi connectivity inside for the commuters to access with two tiers of Internet access with the normal service being free whereas the premium service can be accessed by a nominal fee.

Travelling

The Dubai Transport is divided into 4 tiers (5 zones). The prices were slightly increased as of 11 November 2014. The cheapest ticket (not preloaded, and not in the "gold" class) with a distance not more than 3 km cost 3 AED (about $0.82) – the equivalent of Tier 0, and most costly single trip (Tier 3, exceed 2 zones, and paper not preloaded ticket also) 7.5 AED (about $2.04) and was not increased from opening. Tier 1 is one zone trip, where the travel exceeds 3 km, Tier 2 is neighbouring 2 zones travel. Also (excluding Gold class) using cards there is "no more paying" – a free rest of day travel if the cost exceeds 14 AED (about $3.81).

Ticketing

The Dubai Metro has a fixed fare based on three tiers and travelling under 3 km costs 3 AED. The tiers are: The

are used by the passengers to check-in and check-out at the gates in their destination station. No other payment form (cash, credit card) can be used. The fare will be automatically deducted based on the number of zones traveled. Passengers will be allowed to check-in when their card has more than minimum credit required. Children below the age of 5 years or less than 90 cm and people with disabilities (personalized Nol Card required) will be eligible to travel the metro for free. There is also a Nol Card available for students & seniors, and they can get a student & senior citizens' discount.

Rolling stock

Japanese manufacturer

Kinki Sharyo is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 (as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works) and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945. They have produced light r ...

built a total of 79 five-car trains (60 on Red Line, 19 on Green Line). They are designed to carry 643 seated and standing passengers, and unusually for a mass transit system, the trains have three classes of accommodation: Gold Class ( first class), Women and Children class (a classification that is extended to a greater number of cars during the peak hours), and regular Silver Class (economy). The first train (5001) was delivered to Dubai in March 2008.First Dubai metro train arrives
Railway Gazette International 2008-03-14, retrieved 2008-03-15. The metro has driver less operation and uses

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...

current collection. Trained wardens accompany passengers to help with emergencies. The four newer trains (5074, 5075, 5076, and 5077) are each painted with a different special livery, in which one of them (train 5077) representing the skyline of Dubai. 50 new trains, the

Alstom Metropolis The Alstom Metropolis is a family of electric multiple units designed and produced by the French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom. It is designed for high capacity rapid transit or metro rail infrastructure systems. Trains can be run in variou ...

, were introduced in November 2018. The trains have higher capacity, 696 passengers, up from 643 passenger on the current trains. This will increase passenger capacity by about 10%. The new trains have a refreshed interior with better air conditioning, digital maps, improved speed, brakes and doors. Out of these 50 trains, 35 will run on the Red and Green lines while the remaining 15 will run on

, which partially opened at the start of 2021.

Guinness World Record

On 1 November 2018, as part of the RTA's Public Transport Day, the longest diverse human chain of hand was formed in a Dubai metro train at Etisalat station. The record was acknowledged by

. The chain was formed by people from 96 countries around the whole world. Previously this record was with Norway, where 75 nations made a diverse human chain.

Incidents and accidents

* * * * * * * 3 April 2016 – Passengers were left stranded during evening rush hour after a technical snag delayed train services on the Red Line. Systems were restored in 30 minutes. * 24 August 2017 – A man commits suicide in Noor Bank Metro Station. The station was shut down for one hour following the incident. * 6 November 2017 – Passengers commuting on the Red Line were left stranded after a technical glitch caused train services to temporarily stall specifically near Jumeirah Lakes Towers (now DMCC) and UAE Exchange stations. Services returned to normal at 12:32 PM.

Dubai Metro Museum

, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, gave his directions to transform Dubai Metro stations into art museums under the supervision of

Dubai Culture and Arts Authority The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) is an authority under Government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which works in preservation of the cultural heritage and support of cultural scene in Dubai. History Established in 2008 by M ...

, The project was announced early April 2014 and aims at displaying contemporary and modern art.

References

External links

Tour of the Dubai Metro – lines and principle stations
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Dubai Metro Nol Card Balance Check

Dubai Metro Timings
{{International Metro Organizations 2009 establishments in the United Arab Emirates Transport infrastructure completed in 2009 Roads and Transport Authority (Dubai) Underground rapid transit in the United Arab Emirates 750 V DC railway electrification keolis Automated guideway transit