Monorail deal signed for $5bn City of Arabia

NEW CITY: An artist's impression of the City of Arabia project.

A deal has been signed to build a monorail system to serve the $5 billion City of Arabia retail and residential project in Dubai.

The development, which will include a total of 8,200 residential units, will be home to nearly 33,000 residents and project chiefs are keen to minimise the use of cars.

On Monday, the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group announced it had signed an agreement with the Swiss-based Metrail monorail system to build a monorail system to serve the new community.

City of Arabia is a retail, residential, commercial and entertainment project lying at the gateway to Dubailand.

A self-contained 20 million sq ft community designed to minimise the use of cars, the development will be served by its own monorail system which will transport residents and visitors to and from a designated Dubai Metro station.

Ilyas Galadari, chairman of the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group, said: "Taking care of people from the moment they arrive at City of Arabia is paramount. Visitors to the community will be able to go to the many attractions using a safe, efficient and environmentally sound transportation system."

Syed Khalil, group executive director for City of Arabia, added: "Cost is always an issue; the Metrail system works out to less than $20 million per kilometre, a figure which is competitive to the world's top five mass transit suppliers."

The monorail network will consist a six kilometre dual track with 11 stations and six two-car trains.

The first section will be operational in 12-18 months, project chiefs said, while the City of Arabia scheme will have a phased opening beginning in late 2010.

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