Dubai Metro has transported more than 180m passengers since its launch.
Dubai Metro has transported 184 million passengers from the start of its operations till the end of August 2012, the Roads and Transport Authority said on Sunday as celebrations commemorating the third anniversary of the transportation service commenced.
On September 9, 2009, the RTA launched the Red Line, a 52km stretch of track that comprised of 29 stations, including four underground, one at the grade and 24 elevated.
This was followed by the opening of the Green Line on September 9, 2011. This track had 18 stations (six underground and 12 elevated) and intersects with the Red Line at Khalid Bin Al Waleed and Al Ittihad Stations.
“This huge success has gone beyond the boundaries of the emirate to the world over, stamping the prominent standing of Dubai as a distinctive metropolitan city and a hub for business and sophisticated living standards,” said Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the Board and executive director of the Roads and Transport Authority.
As addition to Dubai’s many landmarks, the Metro has been recognised for its use of cutting edge technology, such as being the world’s longest driverless Metro project.
“The project also comes in implementation of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 in general and the Infrastructure and Environment Sector in particular with a view to offering a smooth mobility, enhancing transit safety levels, and making mass transit systems the ideal choice of mobility,” explained Al Tayer.
He added that the number of commuters using the Metro Red Line from its start till the end of August 2012 totalled 151,781,357 passengers. It showed a sustained growth in jumping from 1.8 million passengers in October 2009 to 3.3 million passengers in October 2011, and climbing to six million passengers in the second half of this year.
Since September 9, 2011, the Green Line has carried 32,592,310 passengers, rising from 2.4 million in October 2011 to three million passengers in July 2012.
“These indicators vouch for the fact that the RTA is making headway in its drive to realise its strategic objective of ultimately raising the share of public transit means to 30 per cent of the total number of trips by 2030, whereas such ratio clocked 10 per cent in 2011,” Al Tayer said.