Metro changes Dubai scene but car-lovers stick to the road

Many Dubai residents have echoed similar complaints about the route of the Dubai Metro, a great part of which runs above the artery of Sheikh Zayed Road along an elevated track.

RTA had created a network of shuttle buses connecting passengers from residential and work areas with the main train line.

“I used the train only once, just to check it out,” said Emirati oil engineer Mohammed Ali who lives in the northern emirate of Ajman — a commuting distance from Dubai.

He still would not bother to park and ride the train when he visits Dubai.

“Roads are now wider and traffic is less congested. The car is faster,” he argued.

Roads are certainly better than a few years ago when Dubai came up with the idea of building a metro network, becoming the vanguard of urban railway in the Arab Gulf region.

During a five-year boom, Dubai invested heavily in modernizing and expanding its road network, which is now the best in the Arab Middle East, boosting its claim to be the regional center for trade and finance.

This is backed by having the busiest airport in the region, which handled 42 million passengers in 2009, and a new airport that opened in June just for cargo and is touted to become the world's largest when completed.

But as the credit crunch hit the ambitious construction projects of Dubai, the metro appeared to be no exception.

The cost of the metro had already doubled to US$7.6 billion by the time the Red Line was opened. Meanwhile, a Japanese-led consortium working on the remainder of the network has reportedly slowed down work due to delayed payment, a matter categorically denied by RTA in January.

Only 21 out of 29 stations on the 52-kilometers (32-miles) Red Line have been opened. The remaining eight are scheduled to open in October.

But RTA is reportedly considering keeping some closed as the severe impact of the global financial crisis put nearby urban developments on hold.

The construction of the second 23-kilometer (14-mile) Green Line has gone slower as well. It is now expected to open next August after it was scheduled to open this spring.

The oil-rich Gulf region has begun to take railway seriously as an important mode of transport, with rail schemes valued at US$94.5 billion, out of transportation projects worth US$170 billion, the Middle East Business Intelligence (MEED) said in June.

These include a GCC rail link of 2,117 kilometers (1,323 miles) running from Oman to Kuwait through the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

But MEED said most of the transport projects are still in the design phase.

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