- Testing begins at Palm Jumeirah as new trains arrive from Japan -

- Passenger journeys to begin in April 2009 -

Dubai, 20 October 2008: Nakheel, Dubai's master developer, today began on site testing for its newly delivered monorail trains on Palm Jumeirah - the first monorail service in the Middle East. 

High-tech trains arrived from Japan this weekend from leading railway system manufacturer Hitachi Ltd, best known for creating Japan's high speed Bullet train. Two trains were raised on to the 5.45km track on Palm Jumeirah, and are now making initial test journeys, closely monitored by the RTA and operators SMRTE.

Robert Lee, Nakheel Managing Director, Investment Projects, said:

"It's great to see the Palm Monorail trains well and truly on track. Having the first monorail in the Middle East here in the Palm Jumeirah is indicative of Nakheel's vision, leadership and ambition as a developer. It will ensure we continue to play a critical role in Dubai's growth as a global centre for tourism, and marks our commitment to creating sustainable transport systems, hand-in-hand with our partners at the RTA."

Tests on the trains will be carried out for the next six months before the monorail is opened to the public in April next year. The new system will carry thousands of passengers each day between Gateway Station at the trunk of Palm Jumeirah and the Atlantis' Aquaventure Station on the crescent, calling at Trump International Hotel & Tower and the luxury retail centre Palm Mall en route. The system will ultimately connect to the Dubai Metro following the introduction of RTA's Al Sufouh tramline, with direct links to Dubai Airport and other major transport hubs.

The Palm Monorail is being developed by a consortium of leading international companies led by the Marubeni Corporation. The system is fully automatic and driverless, although an attendant will be on board at all times. The monorail will initially carry up to 2,400 passengers per hour per direction in four separate trains, each made up of three cars. At full capacity, the figure will rise to a maximum of 6,000 people in nine vehicles.

-Ends- 

About Nakheel
Nakheel is one of the world's largest privately held real estate developers, and a key player in realising the vision of Dubai for the 21st century: creating a world class destination for living, business and tourism.

Nakheel is developing an iconic portfolio of innovative landmark projects in Dubai, and now in key markets around the globe, across a range of sectors - residential, commercial, hotels, retail, and leisure. Nakheel's projects are conservatively estimated to be worth US$80 billion. Upon completion, Nakheel's waterfront projects will have added more than 1,000km of shoreline to Dubai's coastline.

Nakheel's Dubai portfolio includes Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, Palm Deira, The World, Waterfront, The Universe, Nakheel Harbour & Tower, Jumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Village, Jumeirah Park, Jumeirah Heights, The Gardens, Discovery Gardens, Ibn Battuta Mall, Al Furjan, International City, and Dragon Mart.

Nakheel is a key entity within Dubai World. Dubai World is one of the world's largest holding companies and supervises a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Dubai government across five continents and more than 100 countries. 

Further information can be found at www.nakheelmediacentre.com  

For more information please contact:
Four Communications
Greg Moore or Rebecca Leach at Four Communications - Nakheel@fourcommunications.com or tel: +971 55 985 3375/77

Nakheel
Anna McGovern,
PR & Communications Executive on +971 50 457 5892
anna.mcgovern@nakheel.com

© Press Release 2008