RTA buys 518 feeder buses to serve metro

Transport chiefs in Dubai on Monday announced a deal to buy 518 buses to serve passengers travelling on the Dubai Metro.

The AED1.9bn deal will also include an eight-year maintenance contract for the vehicles which will ferry metro customers to and from stations in the emirate. A senior RTA official said that the buses would cover all the stations.

The red line of the $4.2bn project is scheduled to start operating on September 9.

The buses are being provided by VDL, based in the Netherlands, and Swaidan Al Naboodah will manage the service for the company.

Mohammed Abubaker Al Hashimi, director for planning and business development department, said charges for the buses would be announced at a later date, adding that the cost would depend on how zones you travel through.

"In August we will start operating our services and by September 9 we will have all our feeder services up and running. We are running four routes already to Ibn Battuta Mall," he told Arabian Business.

Mattar Al Tayer, RTA chairman of the Board and executive director, added: "The new buses will be deployed on feeder lines of Dubai Metro Stations. Each bus measures 12 metres in length and has a capacity of 68 passengers. These buses are equipped with hi-tech air-conditioning system and top security and safety standards."

Last week, the RTA revealed that the cost of travelling on the new Dubai Metro will range between AED1.80 and AED6.50.

The cost in Dubai compares well to single ticket costs around 1.60 euros (AED8) for the Paris Metro and GBP4 (AED24) for an adult single zone ticket on the London Underground.

The Metro system in Dubai will be split into five zones and park and ride facilities will be available to the stations free of charge, Roads and Transport Authority officials said at a press conference.

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