Dubai Metro

9/9/09 9pm 9 minutes and 99 seconds

This would be a date and time etched into the history of Dubai the city

Recently dates have always been associated with unfortunate events this has been a positive change .

four years back when the plans for a metro started this date was mentioned ,hats off to the powers that they kept thier word in spite of the recession .

The Metro in Dubai is another example of the far sighted vision ,commitment and hard work and dedication of its leadership .

49 months 30,000 workers and 28 billion dirhams later Dubai has the longest most modern unmanned fully automatic Metro in the world .

Every Emirati and Exaptriate in U.A.E. are exited on this great day .

for a city dependent on roads and heavy traffic this would be a welcome change .

the country has never experienced Rail travel so far !

for a start out of the 47 stations only 10 are open today but by february all will open

the red line would have 29 stations 24 elevated 4 underground and one at ground level

next comes the green line .,it would have 18 stations of which 6 would be underground

there would be two transfer stations UnionSquare and Burjuman

the Metro would be a part of an integrated transport system with buses and boats ( near water areas )

( Kochi administrators please note this .....Kochi in Kerala is eminiently suited for water transportation this was recognised by the British who started good boat services but today sadly our politicians have effectively destroyed this ,the kochi Metro is still a dream yet to fructify )

Every metro station would have feeder buses and more than 787 buses would be started .

most forms of Tickets can be used in all the three types of transport .

(new unified automated fare collecting system)

one could plan ones journey to the last second by going to RTA site and clicking on journey planner ,this would give you options for getting from one place to the other and approx time needed ,an animated interactive portion even would show an image walking to nearest bus stop ,bus moving and stopping at metrosn and train moving to destination !

Each train has five compartments one half called Gold cabin or first class the other half is for women and children only ,rest four are normal compartments called Silver ( Economy )

The train would have pleasant colours ,water and air themes ,special facilities for disabled ,elderly and pregnant women ,needless to say evryhting would be disabled acessible

Tactile floor guidance ,Braille signs would be available .

audiovisual announcements and CC TV would be there in all compartments .

they have the best safety feutures available today .

All Metro trains and stations are WIFI enabled with free internet acess

more than 60000 tons of steel have been used in the construction

Two Tunnel Boring machines have been used in its construction

643 passengers in every train 23000 passengers can be carried every hour in the red line each train would have five compartments and have the best safety feutures in the world today

they would be controlled centrally .

Naming rights have been given to private firms for the stations and so we have stations like Diera city centre ,Mall of the Emirates ,Ibn Batuta Mall ,Dubai Mall ,Nakheel etc the rights are sold for a period of 10 years

Both elevated and underground tracks are part of the Metro .

a pop group has already dedicated an album to the metro and below is the lyric of one of the songs

Lyrics of Blue Streak written by Nikhil Uzgare
Goin for a ride on a blue streak, it’s a damn good ride for the mean streets
Gona zip thru the city in my blue streak.
I’m gonna fly !
Beating the traffic in my blue streak, gonna sweat no more in my old jeep
Gona zip thru the city in my blue streak.
Paradise !
Some days are meant for boredom, doing your little nothing squatting flies
Some days are not that bad, I hit my sack, just about in time
Some days are made for speed, but the radars keep me back in line
Some days are slow as hell, wish I had a jet to fly
We’ve got damn strange occupations. Now am zipping thru my stations.
And when I’m off the tracks. The blue streak brings me back!!
Goin for a ride on a blue streak, it’s a damn good ride for the mean streets
Gona zip thru the city in my blue streak.
I’m gonna fly !
Beating the traffic in my blue streak, gonna sweat no more in my old jeep
Gona zip thru the city in my blue streak.
Paradise