In pictures: Dubai Ruler launches drilling works of Dubai Metro Expo 2020 tunnel

His Highness also reviewed the interior design of the new rolling stock of the Dubai Metro and the progress of the project.

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has launched the tunnel drilling works of the Route 2020 Project, which extends the Dubai Metro Red Line 15km from Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station to the site of Expo 2020.

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At the start of the visit, Sheikh Mohammed attended a briefing by Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) on the progress of work on Route 2020, it added.

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Al Tayer explained that the giant tunnel boring machine named Al Wugeisha Expo 2020 will cross the underground station near Jumeirah Golf Estates in January next year.

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The tunnel starts at the Discovery Gardens and stretches 3.2km up to The Green Community. It features depths ranging from 12.5 to 36 metres.

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In December 2018, all tunnel drilling works will be completed while the first of the new Dubai Metro trains will arrive in July, he added.

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Construction work on the metro viaducts will be completed in November next year and all railway works of Route 2020 will be completed in July 2019, with the trial run starting in February 2020.

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A total of 50 new Dubai Metro carriages are being manufactured in France with 15 for Expo 2020 and 35 for the overall metro system.

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New features will include a car for women and children while seats will be transversal in the Gold Class, and longitudinal in the Silver Class as well as the Women and Children car.