Exciting times ahead! Brace yourselves as the construction of the Dubai Metro Blue Line officially kicks off in 2024, promising to revolutionize your daily commute like never before.
The announcement came in with a bang on Sunday, straight from the RTA headquarters. This monumental AED 18 billion ($4.9 billion) project is poised to transform the landscape, introducing 14 state-of-the-art stations and extending the Metro network by a whopping 30km, with a significant portion of it going underground.
According to Mattar Al Tayer, the visionary director general of the RTA, the Blue Line is set to redefine urban connectivity, catering to burgeoning areas projected to reach a population of nearly one million by 2040, as outlined in the Dubai Urban Plan. Seamlessly integrated with the existing Red and Green Lines, this development marks a milestone in city planning excellence.
Dubai International Airport will serve as the epicenter, linking directly to nine pivotal destinations along the Blue Line route: from Mirdif and Al Warqa to International City 1 and 2, traversing through Dubai Silicon Oasis, Academic City, Ras Al Khor Industrial Area, Dubai Creek Harbour, and Dubai Festival City. Commute times are expected to range from a swift 10 to 25 minutes between these bustling hubs.
But hold your horses, there’s more to come! The grand finale is slated for 2029, just in time for the Dubai Metro’s 20th anniversary extravaganza!
Dubai's #RTA announced that in 2023, the combined ridership of public transport and shared mobility, including Dubai Metro, Tram, buses, marine transport, shared mobility services, and taxis, reached around 702 million, up 13% from 2022's 621.4 million. The average daily… pic.twitter.com/VDDay5H3wn
— RTA (@rta_dubai) February 18, 2024
Here’s the kicker: unlike its predecessors, the Dubai Metro Blue Line will predominantly operate underground, with over half of its route submerged beneath the cityscape. With a staggering 260 million riders recorded on the Red and Green Lines in 2023 alone, the commencement of the Blue Line construction is poised to send ripples of excitement through Dubai’s public transport aficionados!