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Dubai planning railway system

DUBAI - Dubai Municipality's latest Structure Plan for the Dubai Urban Area includes a light rail system extending from the centre of Dubai along Al Ittihad Road to the Sharjah border and in the opposite direction along Shaikh Zayed Road all the way to the Abu Dhabi border, Tim Catchpole, planning consultant at Halcrow, a consultation establishment providing infrastructure business solutions, said.

In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, Mr Catchpole, who was a speaker at the Sixth Sharjah Urban Planning Symposium held on Sunday, said that the main road between Dubai and Sharjah, Al Ittihad Road, carries massive traffic flow and is often grid-locked in peak hours.

"About five years ago Halcrow produced a consultation document to both the city authorities promoting the idea of a major public transport link between the two cities. The details of the light rail are yet to be finalised and it is important that the project is progressed within a UAE framework," he pointed out.

Referring to a document issued by Halcrow, Mr Catchpole said that the choice of transport mode largely depends on the scale of demand. In general buses have a route capacity of around 2,000 passengers per hour in one direction and beyond this, the guided bus system becomes more cost-effective.

"The document added that when there are higher levels of demand, probably around 4,000 passengers per hour in one direction, a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system becomes the most efficient mode. The number of motorists using Al Ittihad Road in peak hours is currently over 6,000 per hour in one direction and is increasing.

"Given the increasingly congested conditions and longer journey duration, a significant proportion of commuters would be expected to shift their focus on public transport mode, and the case for guided bus or light rail mode would be worth considering," Mr Catchpole said.

According to reports issued earlier by the Dubai Municipality, the LRT would help increase mobility, save travel time, reduce the number of accidents, save energy and reduce pollution, while at the same time saving space required for roads and interchanges.

The reports added that some 13,722 passengers are expected to use the LRT during peak hours on an average, and by the year 2017, this figure is expected to reach 27,499. An estimated 43 million people are expected to use Dubai's proposed rapid rail transit system annually. The rail project is currently at the preliminary stage, which includes the last phase of planning, passenger and revenue forecast, detailed financial plan, and is expected to commence operation by 2005.

The municipality had earlier conducted a preliminary engineering study on the rail track options including the underground system, the elevated system, a combined system of both the underground and elevated systems, and the At-Grade System. The study recommended the combined system as the best track option for Dubai.