Dubai Route 2020 bridge work nearing completion
First trains destined for the route to arrive in Dubai in November
Work on all the bridges attached to Route 2020 will be complete by the end of November, according to Dubai officials. Route 2020 is the 15km extension of the Dubai Metro Red Line to the Expo site and includes five elevated stations and two underground stations.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai visited the site to review its progress, and was briefed by Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). During the briefing, Al Tayer said construction of the metro viaduct was progressing at pace.
During his visit, Sheikh Mohammed noted that infrastructure projects are a key part of the UAE’s development plans and play a vital role in enhancing the country’s economic environment. He also said that the Dubai Government had allocated 21% of its budget for new projects, including those that enhance the efficiency of existing infrastructure in the build up to the first Expo in the region.
The Dubai Government has already allocated $1.3bn from its 2018 budget to projects related to Expo 2020, Sheikh Mohammed explained. He also said that the happiness and welfare of the community were a high-priority, strategic objective for the government.
Sheikh Mohammed praised the infrastructure development efforts of the RTA, which align with Dubai’s economic and social development projects, and supports the objectives of the UAE’s Vision 2021 and Dubai Plan 2021. He later reviewed the designs of the metro stations which feature four themes.
The design of the Expo station features plane wings that are said to reflect Dubai’s journey towards the future through innovation. The station is expected to serve millions of passengers, and has been designed to ensure the smooth entry and exit of passengers at all times.
The infrastructure project also features an interchange station linking Route 2020 and the Red Line of Dubai Metro at Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station. Its design is similar to existing metro stations, however the elevated and underground stations were designed to handle higher traffic than existing stations on the Red Line.
According to the RTA, the first of the new metro trains to be used on the route will arrive in Dubai in November and will begin operations in December. The RTA says it will start testing carriages in May 2019, and conduct test runs starting in Feb 2020 to ensure the readiness of the all the systems. The test runs will continue until the official opening of the project.
