06 Oct 2006
Dubai: Some 96 kilometres will be added to the Dubai Metro network, with the addition of Purple and Blue railway lines.
The total length of the Red and the Green Lines, part of the earlier plan, is 69.7km.
The Road and Transport Authority has announced the construction of 49km long Purple Line and an approximately 47km long Blue Line.
According to the RTA, Dubai will have a total of 318km of metro lines by 2020 as some more tracks will be added gradually with the development of the city.
The 49km-long Purple Line will be an express track and it will link Dubai International Airport with Jebel Ali Airport. It will have only eight stations and will be operational by 2012 - two years after the completion of the Red and the Green Lines.
Abdul Majeed Khaja, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Metro at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), the Blue Line will run on Emirates Road while the Purple Line will be constructed on Al Khail Road and serve new communities coming up along this road.
Change in plan
"Although the Blue Line was planned earlier, we have decided to construct the Purple Line first because more development is coming up on Al Khail Road," Al Khaja told journalists at an informal meeting held on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by senior officials of Dubai Metro team, including Adnan Al Hammadi, Director of Construction; Abdul Redha Abuhassan, Director of Planning and Design; Abdul Rauf Al Sayed Mohammad, Operations Engineer; Ali Abdul Qader, Director of Maintenance Department and Mohammad Eisa Al Rowaished, Rail Design Manager.
Al Khaja said the metro work was going at a fast pace. "We have completed 25 per cent of work on the Red Line."
He said 52.1km Red Line from Dubai-Abu Dhabi borders to Rashidiya will now have 29 stations as one more station has been added for the Mall of Emirates.
"We are on schedule and will complete the project within the given time," said Al Khaja.
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
