Dubai residents finally got to ride the latest addition to the city’s transport network on Wednesday morning, just hours after Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the first tram from Al Sufouh depot amidst a blaze of fireworks and celebrations on Tuesday night.
Sheikh Hamdan, who is also chairman of Dubai Executive Council, rode on the first tram along with senior government officials on Tuesday night, with two more trains in tow, for the inaugural run. The official ceremony took place in the presence of HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and other senior officials.
Click here for a gallery of the opening ceremony
Click here for a guide to fines and penalties outlined by Dubai Police
Click here to get a guide to the hotels, outlets and attractions available long the Dubai Tram route
The trams opened to the public at 6.30am on Wednesday, with a trip every 10 minutes during peak hours and every 12 minutes during non-peak hours.
The tram is also integrated into the general tranport network, connected with Dubai Metro at two stations in Dubai Marina – Damac station and Jumeirah Lakes Towers station. The network is also linked to Palm Jumeirah’s Monorail at Palm Jumeirah station, which is also equipped with an extensive parking area, taxi lay-bys and a footbridge.
With one Gold cabin, four Silver cabins and two cabins for women and children, each tram has a capacity to carry 405 passengers.
A Silver class trip on the tram will cost AED3 irrespective of the distance travelled, while the Gold class fare will be AED6. As with all modes of transport, payment of fares for Dubai Tram will be made only through the Unified Automated Fare Collection system, Nol.
RTA’s newly introduced Nol fare packages will also go live today, offering commuters up to 47 percent discount across all modes of transport.
Working in shifts, a team of 35 drivers will operate 11 trams from 6.30am to 1.30am on weekdays. On Friday, the trams will operate from 9am to 1.30am.
Phase one of the AED3.7 billion ($1 billion) project was built by a consortium including Besix, Alstom, Serco and Parsons.
The 10.6km-long route stretches along Al Sufouh Road and consists of 11 stations – JBR 1, JBR 2, JLT, Dubai Marina Mall, Dubai Marina, Marina Towers, Mina Siyahi, Dubai Media City, The Palm Jumeirah, Knowledge Village and Safouh.
Footbridges were constructed to link Dubai Tram and Dubai Metro at two stations – Damac Properties and JLT. The tramway also intersects with the monorail of the Palm Jumeirah at the entrance of the Palm, Safouh Street where a multi-level parking lot is in place at this station to serve tram and monorail users.
It is the first tram outside of Europe that will run entirely on an underground power source, through the tracks with no overhead cables. The RTA said it is also the first tram system in the world to be equipped with platform screen doors and boast air-conditioned stations.
Earlier this week, the RTA unveiled the opening hours of the Dubai Tram, which will run from 6.30am to 1.30am from Saturday to Thursday; and 9am to 1.30am on a Friday.
There will be a 10-minute interval between trams during peak time and 12 minutes during off-peak. While an operator will be on board at all times. And a journey around the entire route will take 42 minutes.
Abdulla Yousef Al Ali, CEO of RTA Rail Agency, said: “Fixing the tram service hours was geared towards meeting the needs of the public and responding to their daily transit patterns, particularly as the tram serves densely populated areas, offering commuter service from and to places of work, besides serving tourist attractions in the Emirate thus appeals to a whole host of community segments.”
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