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Water allowed in Metro during emergency

DUBAI — Commuters can use water inside the metro in cases of emergency, though food and drinks — including water — is officially banned inside the trains, a senior Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) official told Khaleej Times.

The comments came from the RTA’s Director of Metro Operations, Ramadan Abdullah, when asked about a recent case of a commuter fainting inside the metro and the attendants not allowing the administration of giving water to the person.w“We don’t allow food and drinks on the trains as a policy because these things will cause problems of cleanliness and safety. We don’t want situations where water or juice is spilled in the train and somebody slips. That can create more emergencies,” said Abdullah. However, he added that under emergency situations, “when a commuter is unwell and needs water, nobody would stop the person from drinking water.”

Though there is no first aid kit inside the Dubai Metro trains, Abdullah said, the attendants on board the trains are fully trained to handle all kinds of emergency situations.

“Our attendants both on board and at the stations are fully trained to handle emergencies and we have a fully equipped First Aid Room in all stations. The maximum time between two stations is mostly two to three minutes and we are in touch with ambulance services. So we are prepared and equipped to shift patients in 10 minutes,” explained Abdullah, urging people to have faith on the system in place. He advised the commuters to respect the ‘no food and drinks’ policy.

“It is made to help people and is common on most metros around the world,” he said.

shafaat@khaleejtimes.com