Dubai Metro adds 123 new retail outlets

More than 120 new retail outlets have been rented out within the Dubai Metro, the emirate's Rail Agency has said.

The Agency, a unit of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), has announced the renting of 123 retail outlets in stations on the Red and Green Metro lines.

The deals take the total number of retail units operating in the metro system to 302, a statement said.

Subway, Zoom, UAE Exchange and Sharaf DG are among the retail brands launching new metro retail operations, it added.

Adnan Al Hammadi, CEO of RTA Rail Agency, said: "The retail outlets in the metro stations project is a huge business activity teeming with multitude of services and commodities with store area ranging from 8 to 645 sq m.

"These stores are now considered amongst the most attractive business prospects in the retail sector of the Dubai Emirate as they offer items and services to commuters on both the Red and Green lines, particularly as their number is continuously on the rise."

He added that more global brands are expected to snap up spaces at metro stations in the future.

More than 213 million passengers have travelled on Dubai Metro since its launch in September 2009.

Mattar Al Tayer, chairman and executive director of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) said riders on the Red and Green lines reached 213.3m up until the end of November last year.

He said the Dubai Metro had seen a "huge growth during this year" with average daily passenger numbers at about 350,000.