New Metro station opens

The Danube station will have a maximum capacity of handling 11,000 passengers every hour in each direction as it will be one of the two stations serving commuters travelling to Jebel Ali.

Al Mansouri said the country was “very proud” of Dubai’s Metro.

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri opens the Danube Metro station in presence of Salma Ali saif bin Hareb, Jafza CEO; Mattar Al Tayer; Rizwan Sajan; and Anis Sajan, managing director of Danube in Jebel Ali on Wednesday. — KT photo by Rahul Gajjar

“Certainly without logistics, the UAE, and particularly Dubai, would not have been positioned as one of the best in the world,” he said.

The opening of the station will provide alternative access to employees working in Jafza, which is one of the world’s largest and the fastest growing free zones, serving more than 6,400 companies.

Ibrahim Mohammed Al Janahi, Deputy CEO of Jafza, said: “If only 10 per cent of the Jafza workforce used the Metro services, we would have more than 17,000 people commuting on it. This will be an achievement for us as it will ease traffic congestion on roads.”

Mohammed Polash, a worker in Jafza, expressed happiness at the opening of the station.

“I can now commute from work to home during the day as I wouldn’t have to entirely depend on company transport which has fixed timings. It adds to the convenience and makes traveling easier.”

The existing Jebel Ali Metro Station, which is the last station on the Red Line already serves more than 4,000 commuters everyday. With the addition of the Danube station, the numbers are expected to increase.

Rizwan Sajan, founder and chairman of Danube Group, praised the UAE leadership and said the partnership with Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) was a “reflection of the group’s commitment to support the infrastructure of Dubai”.

“We are proud to be associated with Dubai Metro and I believe many people who work after office hours or during the weekends will benefit from the opening of the Danube station.”

The station will be served by a feeder bus (F53) which will connect commuters to Dubai World Central and Dubai Investment Park.

With the launch of the Danube station, Dubai now has 44 operational metro stations with only three more left to open.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the board and Executive Director of the RTA, also unveiled a plaque at the renamed Burjuman Metro Station, which was earlier known as Khalid bin Al Waleed Station.

The Burjuman station is the second interchange station where the Red and Green Lines intersect. An average 400,000 passengers use the station each month as it has a capacity to handle about 16,000 passengers per hour.

muaz@khaleejtimes.com