The green light for Dubai's long-standing dream of a state-of-the-art urban rail transit system, given after much research and study, is expected to result in a rash of tenders that could kick-off a new burst of activity in the on-going construction boom.
Expectations are high, as the project size has been expanded substantially to Dhs14.3 billion. Industry estimates had put a figure of Dhs8.5 billion for the project when it was first unveiled.
Dubai Municipality held a three-day meeting from 15th March of suppliers and contractors to exchange ideas and suggestions on the project. Qualifying civil works contractors will begin on 18th May. The schedule for this preliminary engineering studies phase also includes qualifying suppliers, choosing the consortiums, tendering, completion of contract documents, contract signing, final designing and implementation, and operation of the first and second phases of the project.
Since the design consultancy was given to Systra more than a year ago, the project has undergone intensive review on the ease of it being put into place, operational efficiency and commercial viability. It was only recently given the go-ahead by the Higher Committee for the Dubai Rail Project.
"Look around you and you will see that the vision of our leaders is truly happening. If you have any doubts about whether Dubai needs a modern public transit infrastructure, I invite you to witness for yourself the dynamic growth that Dubai is experiencing," said Qassim Sultan, director general of Dubai Municipality and chairman of the Higher Committee.
”To meet increases in travel demand during the past three decades, the municipality has built 9100 lane km of roads at a cost of Dhs8.4 billion, and the emirate just cannot keep on expanding its roads,” said Nasser Ahmed Saeed, director of the municipality's roads department and general coordinator for the rail project.
The Dubai Metro System will be built around top-of-the-class modern trains, each about 75 metres long and comprising five cars.
There would be no visually intrusive overhead contact lines, thanks to the ‘third rail’ connection system. The trains will use steel wheels or tyres running on a special double track for full guidance and support. All stations will be equipped with platform screen doors, ensuring optimal safety and allowing to fully air-condition stations, whether elevated or underground.
The network will comprise two lines, the Red Line and the Green Line. The Red Line will initially run from Salahuddin Road (near Al Ghurair Centre) to the American University of Dubai through BurJuman and Sheikh Zayed Road, and will later be extended to Jebel Ali Port in the south and the intersection of Al Nahda and Damascus roads through Al Qiyadah intersection in the north.
The Green Line will, initially, ply between Al Ittihad Square (near the municipality) and Rashidiya bus station via Deira City Centre and the Airport Terminals 1 and 3, and will be extended to serve the Deira and Bur Dubai central areas up to BurJuman and Wafi shopping centres.
Totalling 70km, the two lines will have 55 stations in all - 35 along the 50 km long Red Line, and 22 stations along the 20km long Green Line. The two transfer stations will be at Al Ittihad Square and BurJuman. A possible extension of the Green Line from Wafi to the projected Festival City development is currently under study.
The two lines will run underground in the heart of the city - the Red Line from the intersection of Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed roads to just before the intersection of Salahuddin and Abu Bakr Al Siddique roads, while the Green Line from Garhoud to Oud Metha Road.
The rest of the networks will run elevated on a specially designed viaduct, whose design and aesthetics are being developed specifically to actually enhance the urban architecture along its corridor. In no location will the tracks cross the public highway, ensuring a fully safe mode segregation.
In its entirety the metro system will have 18km of tunnels, 51km of viaduct, one major train depot and maintenance facilities site and several auxiliary stabling facilities, while the total fleet size is expected to be slightly in excess of 100 trains.
