Dubai Metro
| Basic data | |
| Country |
 United Arab Emirates
|
|---|---|
| city | Dubai |
| opening | September 9, 2009 |
| Lines | 2 |
| Route length | 74.6 km |
| Stations | 44 |
| use | |
| Passengers | 138 million / year (2013) |
| Residents in the catchment area | 1.5 million |
| operator | RTA / Serco |
| Gauge | Standard gauge |
| Power system | Busbar |
As the Dubai Metro ( Arabic مترو دبي Metrō Dubayy ) is the name of the subway network in Dubai . It is the fourth subway network in the Middle East and is operated entirely without a driver on a network of 1435 mm standard gauge .
history
planning
The planning envisaged that the final expansion should be completed by 2020 with a 170-200 km route and around 120 stops. 90 trains were supposed to transport an average of 1.2 million passengers a day and around 355 million annually.
construction
Construction began in October 2005 by a consortium of Japanese companies and a partial opening with initially ten stops of the first construction section of the “Red Line” took place on September 9, 2009. On September 9, 2011, the clasp-like, shorter “Green Line” followed, initially with 16 stations.
The initially estimated construction costs of the system were put at around 15.5 billion UAE dirhams (around 3.8 billion euros) and the annual maintenance costs at 133 million euros. At the end of August 2009, the road and transport authority RTA announced that 50–60% of the original plan had been changed and supplemented, which would lead to an increase in costs of 80% to 28 billion dirhams (5.7 billion euros). The increase in costs is said to have arisen primarily from unplanned additional structures such as additional large car parks, modified feeder structures, more difficult road and bridge adjustments, new bus bays and stops on the feeder lines, quality improvements at the stations and the subsequent extension of the Green Line by seven kilometers. Ultimately, the construction costs of the red and green lines came to just under 7 billion euros.
The Japanese companies involved in the construction of the Dubai Metro had temporarily stopped work at the beginning of 2010. The reason was the lack of payments to the companies, reported on January 7, 2010 the Japanese business newspaper "Nikkei". After that, the four Japanese consortium companies stopped working to negotiate payment. According to Nikkei, the sum of unpaid bills already amounted to the equivalent of 3.6 billion euros at the end of October 2009. For the rest of the work to complete the Red Line, an agreement was made between RTA and contractors, which also included additional public funding.
Infrastructure
Overview / general
The routes run for 18.7 km in the tunnel , the rest above ground. Tunnels were built in the city center, on the outer routes the metro runs over ramps to viaducts , on average, about four meters high , in some places the elevated route rises up to six meters, in other places the carriageway was also opened - for example when driving under bridges lowered. The inclines and declines of three to four percent that occur here are hardly noticed by travelers . With the exception of a ground-level train station , all above-ground stops are at the viaduct level.
The platform edges are equipped with platform screen doors. This is for safety, but also makes it possible to air-condition the platforms , which is intended to increase the acceptance of this traffic system because of the high outside temperatures customary in the country.
Promotional naming rights for individual stations as well as for an entire line can be acquired from the operator. This marketing, which deviates from the usual geographical station designation, has been received with skepticism by the public.
Opened lines
Red Line
The Red Line is 52.1 km long, 4.7 km of which is in the tunnel, and runs between the Jabal Ali port and the Rashidiyya district, about 2 km southeast of Dubai International Airport . On September 9, 2009, after construction delays, the first partial opening took place; further sections were opened in 2010 and 2011. The Union station in the Deira district is the largest underground metro station in the world: 230 by 50 meters on three floors. In the long term, an extension of the route from Jebel Ali to the border of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is under discussion. Since Abu Dhabi is planning a comparable metro system, there is the option of through trains.
Green Line
The green line is 23.9 km long (7.9 km of which are in the tunnel). It runs between Etisalat and Creek in a U-shape around Dubai International Airport and Dubai Creek . There are two common stations with the Red Line: Union in the Deira district and Chalid bin al-Walid in the Bur Dubai district.
Lines in planning
In addition to the first two lines, there are plans for further routes in the second construction phase. Dubai's state transport authority (RTA) has announced a (rather ambitious) medium-term implementation of the planning for public transport on rails: by 2030, the metro network should cover 420 kilometers. It is doubted whether this will happen in view of the severe turning point caused by the 2008/2010 economic crisis.
| line | Terminals | opening | length | Stations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red line | Ar-Rashidiyya - Jebel Ali | September 9, 2009 | 52.1 km | 29 |
| Green line | Etisalat - Creek | September 9, 2011 | 23.9 km | 18th |
| Blue line | Dubai International Airport - Dubai World Central International Airport | planned, construction freeze | 47.0 km | 18-20 |
| Purple line | Dubai International Airport - Dubai World Central International Airport | planned | 49.0 km | 8th |
| Total: | 166 km | 75-77 | ||
Blue line
Construction on the Blue Line began in March 2009, but was stopped again in October 2009 due to the economic crisis. The line length should be 47 km. The route will run far from the center in the new southern districts.
Purple line
The start of construction has also been postponed indefinitely on the violet line, which appeared to be particularly urgent as a 49 km long “express line”. It was supposed to connect the two airports with an inland route along Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road , relatively far from the city center . With just eight stations, it was designed for a higher top speed of between 135 and 160 km / h. A check-in counter for passengers was planned at each of three central stations , the total travel time should only be 40 minutes.
More lines
In addition, a black and a yellow line is being considered, the exact routing of which has not yet been determined. It is also planned to connect the two large external urbanization projects Palm Deira in the east and the Dubai Waterfront in the far west by extending routes.
vehicles
The 87 trains of the Dubai Metro are driverless five-part multiple units 85 meters in length. They were supplied by the Japanese company Kinki Sharyō and have the numbers 5001-5087. Power is supplied via a power rail parallel to the main track.
The trains have three different zones:
- 1st car class (gold class) in the outer section of one of the end cars
- Women's compartment exclusively for women and children in the rest of the same end car. This compartment will gradually be relocated to the other end cars in all trains.
- 2nd carriage class (Economy).
A maximum of 643 passengers can be carried per train , but relatively few in seats.
The planned maximum speed is 90 km / h (up to 110 km / h would be technically possible). During normal operation, the average speed is 45–50 km / h.
Control technology, security
The fully automatic train control system SelTrac comes from Thales Rail Signaling Solutions . Their centrally program- controlled NetTrac control technology is used. With the maximum possible train sequence of 90 seconds and an estimated speed of 90 km / h, a complete train circuit on the Red Line takes 2 hours 23 minutes, on the Green Line 1 hour 23 minutes. When operations are fully expanded, the Red Line with 51 trains offers a capacity of 11,675 passengers per hour at peak times. In theory, 106 trains could transport 25,720 people per hour at the highest compression. Outside of the peak times, trains run at a greater distance, at the beginning of 2010, for example, only every 10 minutes, which has already led to a crowd in rush hour traffic. With a maximum of 60 trains, the Green Line could offer a peak performance of 13,380 passengers per hour.
The operation of a driverless metro also places special demands on the safety of passengers to be guaranteed. The traffic authority fully equipped all stations and pedestrian bridges with a total of 3000 surveillance cameras , and every metro train has at least ten cameras. The technical operation is handled by the NetTrac module Automatic Train System ATP , which z. B. ensures that if a train stops, the following ones are stopped. A ladder-equipped descent point for passengers is prepared every 700 meters on the elevated route. The driving operation is supported internally by civilian security personnel, in addition, the traffic authority will deploy a police force specially trained 660 people to prevent and prosecute illegal activities or operational and traffic hazards as far as possible. Some officials are out with sniffer dogs to prevent possible drug possession and trafficking. The behavior of passengers at the entry points leaves a lot to be desired when there is a heavy rush, there is little discipline among the passengers pushing to board. It was therefore announced that the station staff would be increased and trained even better.
Transport association, partial opening, tariffs
The RTA sees the new metro as the backbone of a transport network between rail, road and ferries. With a network ticket, you can use all three public transport networks. Large parking lots or multi-storey car parks with 3000–6000 parking spaces are being created at some of the metro's nodes and terminals; the parking fee is included in the fare. In this way, the traffic jams on the main streets of Dubai should be reduced. From the metro stations, 41 new feeder bus lines are gradually being set up, which are to be operated with 500 buses to the neighboring residential, work and other destination areas. The required footpath should be limited to a maximum of 500 meters. At the end of September 2009, a cooperation agreement was signed with the largest private taxi association, the Dubai Taxi Corporation . It was agreed that up to 300 taxis with specially trained drivers would be kept ready at the metro stations, in return the RTA would ensure sufficient parking spaces. This is intended to defuse the competition between taxi companies and the strengthened local public transport. In the run-up to the opening of the metro, there had been fears of a loss of revenue in the taxi industry that could threaten the existence of the company.
The metro is supplemented by other rail-based offers, such as:
- the Dubai Monorail, which runs from metro stations or nearby endpoints on branch lines (opening of the first line in April 2009)
- the Dubai Tram , a 9.5 kilometer long tram from Madinat Jumeirah to Dubai Marina . According to the public transport development plan for 2020, the tram network will play an important role alongside the metro.
The metro is subsidized by the state for its introduction and popularization. The tariff system, which is divided into three distance zones, started at 2 dirhams (around 0.37 euros) per single journey on a paper ticket or 1.80 dirhams on the multiple card, the longest single journey (3 zones) costs 6.50 dirhams or 5.80 dirhams in Economy Class and Gold Class double. The 24-hour network card, which is also suitable for tourists, cost 14 dirhams (about 2.56 euros). For local long-term users there is a pre-paid electronically chargeable ticket that includes a discount and includes free parking at some P + R metro stations.
business
Although all vehicles display the RTA logo , the operation is carried out by Serco .
Start of operation
There were various problems on the first days of operation of the Red Line (from September 10, 2009). There was a technical failure (material defect) of a train at a stop, the passengers had to get off again, the downtime was two hours. A replacement rail service along the metro line was not set up. In addition, there were software errors and problems synchronizing the door openings on the platform. There were several delays in train operation in some stations with outages of up to about an hour. Replacement buses were then kept ready at some stations. No passenger should wait more than 15 minutes to continue their journey. The restriction to initially only ten metro stations triggered the first private initiatives: In order to reach the more distant stations if they did not offer a corresponding shuttle bus offer, a university from the Dubai Knowledge Village provided a shuttle bus to the Mall of the Emirates station (4.4 Kilometers) are available free of charge.
experience
After 16 days of metro operation, the first million passengers were counted, of which numerous passengers have already been identified as real switchers from the car to the new means of transport. However, the majority of users are - as expected - transferring buses and taxis. After a month of operation, a good 1.7 million passengers had used the metro. H. theoretically every resident of Dubai had boarded once.
On May 1, 2010, RTA had suspended some very well-used bus routes between downtown and Jebel Ali. This was justified by the fact that there was parallel traffic with the metro. However, the bus routes, which are mainly used by commuters, usually had a shorter journey time than a route that was extended by changing trains several times and involving the metro. The protests of the passengers should be followed up, if necessary some bus connections should be re-established.
Around 30 percent of those who regularly use the train own a car that they leave at home or at the entrance to the metro. A clearly relaxing effect on the road traffic situation became apparent. However, the decline in economic activity due to the recession may also have contributed to this.
In 2013, 138 million passengers were carried on the two metro lines.
Web links
- Dubai Metro . Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) website
- Metro Blog: Thoughts on the Dubai Metro . Gulfnews.com, September 12, 2009 (blogs and first testimonials, English)
- Express buses to help avoid disruptions in Metro travel . Gulfnews.com, September 16, 2009 (English)
Remarks
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e HaRakevet 109 (June 2015), p. 20 (109: 08, H, b) [based on: Maurits van den Toorn. In: Op de Rails 5/2015, pp. 250-254].
- ↑ Ashfaq Ahmed: Metro may be extended to Sharjah, Abu Dhabi borders ( Memento of the original dated November 30, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , gulfnews.com, April 17, 2006
- ↑ arabianbusiness.com
- ^ Derek Baldwin: Dubai Metro: Track to the Future . April 16, 2009
- ^ Dominic Ellis: Driverless trains to support a prosperous future . Railway Gazette International . March 27, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2008.
