DUBAI, 10 April 2007 -- The rail agency from the Roads and Transport Authority has announced that the manufacturing of rolling stock (trains) for the Dubai Metro has started. With five cars, 3 motor cars and 2 trailer cars, each train will be approximately 85 meters long, 2.78 meters wide and 3.86 meters high.
Adnan Hammadi, director of construction, rail agency, said: "The first train will be ready by October 2007 after which the train will be delivered to Dubai for testing and commissioning starting in March 2008."
The process of manufacturing a train set takes approximately 12 months and the sub systems fitted into each train are from various reputable international suppliers such as Kinki Sharyo, Mitsubishi Electric, and Alcatel. Altogether 44 train sets will be delivered for the Red Line in order to begin service in September 2009.
Hammadi added that the fabrication of the car-body parts and outfitting of equipment would be done in Japan at Kinki Sharyo's manufacturing facility in Osaka. The trains have very distinctive colors. The exterior is blue and silver.
He confirmed that the trains to be delivered to Dubai would have five cars to accommodate 643 passengers. The trains will be assembled with one Gold Car located at the front followed by four Silver Cars.
The color schemes have been developed by an international specialized company in association with Kinky Sharyo industrial designers. Passengers in the Gold Class Car will experience a luxurious interior with full leather wider seats and a panoramic view through the front window of the train with just 18 seats. One section on the Gold Car will be reserved exclusively for women and children.
As for the Silver Cars, the largest component of the trains, they will consist of four with seating arranged in a variety of ways giving passengers the choice between looking at the views from the windows or holding discussions with friends. Numerous hand holds provide a secure grip for standing passengers.
By K.T. Abdurabb
© Arab News 2007
