Support for Urban Development in Dubai on Track

Dubai’s rapidly growing population and tourist numbers have caused a severe traffic congestion problem in the emirate – and the new Dubai Metro aims to help to ease that by offering an alternative way of traveling - the Red Line is set to open on September 9th this year while the Green Line will open in March next year.

It is predicted that the population will top three million by 2017 and tourist numbers are expected to reach a whopping 15 million by 2010.

This has led to the Dubai municipality identifying the need for a rail system to relieve growing motor traffic and support urban development.

Planning for a metro system started in 1997 and the first two lines of a high-tech driverless rapid transit system are soon to be opened to passengers. The Roads & Transport Authority is constructing the 74.6 km long Dubai Metro project at an initial cost of £2.5 billion.

The first line to open will be the 52 kilometre Red Line, which runs the length of Shaikh Zayed Road.

Plans are still in the pipeline for future Dubai metro lines, but the ‘needs of the city’ will be ‘re-evaluated’ first, said Engineer Abdul Redah Abu Al Hassan, Director of Planning and Development at the RTA’s Rail Agency.

Mr Al Hassan said that the Purple Line will be the next metro line to be launched in Dubai, which will connect Dubai International Airport with Al Maktoum International Airport being constructed in Jebel Ali and will run on Al Khail Road.

It’s not just the metro coming to Dubai either. Two hundred and seventy kilometres of tram lines are also in the pipeline and are expected to be completed by 2020. There are also plans for a comprehensive network of 3,000 buses to crisscross the city and water transport in the works.

Mr Al Hassan added, “We want to achieve the target of 30 per cent of people using public transport once the complete mass public transport systems is in place.

“The current ratio of just six per cent people using public transport is very low,” he added.

Property price proximity
It is predicted that properties in Dubai near metro stations will increase in price once the first line is finished in three months time.

But, as Dubai does not currently reply on a public transport system network, it may be some time before properties near a metro station reflect price increases such as you would see in a city like London, where being in close proximity to a tube, station or bus stop is a huge bonus.

Areas such as Jumeirah Lakes Towers and Business Bay could be sold at a 10 per cent premium because of the number of metro stations nearby, experts predict.


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