50% discounts, shorter commute time: Why thousands of students are opting to take the Dubai Metro back to school

Several children get off at Dafza, Oud Metha, Al Nahda stations during peak hours

SM Ayaz Zakir

Published: Fri 2 Sep 2022, 11:34 AM

Last updated: Fri 2 Sep 2022, 2:54 PM

Students in Dubai say commuting between work and home using the Dubai Metro is a cheap, safe and rewarding.

Several young residents get off at Dafza, Oud Metha, Al Nahda, GIGICO, Emirates, and Al Safa metro stations.

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"It takes nearly 40 minutes to reach my school by metro as I have to change the metro lines at Burjuman or Union," says American 11th grader Rohan Nihalani.

He lives near the Financial Centre metro station on Sheikh Zayed Road, starting out at 6.50am every morning to reach Cambridge International School.

"I reach the school before the first bell. To decrease the journey time, I sometimes take the RTA bus to complete the first and last leg of my journey."

Nihalani says nearly 60 students from both his and neighbouring schools take the metro to school as well. This includes 11-year-old Mehreen Afraz and her younger brother Zayaan, who say the experience is rewarding.

"We have become more confident and can travel on our own when our parents aren't available to drop us or pick us up from school," said Mehreen.

"Travelling by metro, we also learn a lot about Dubai and decide about the places we want to explore with our parents on the weekend," said Zayaan.

Raghdan Kurbaj, a Syrian national, said: "Using the metro is quite economical for me as I am being given a 50 per cent discount, and on the last leg of the journey, I hop on the RTA bus."

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Eleventh grader Krishna Raj studies at a school in Oud Metha, while his sister is in the eighth grade at Dubai Gem Private School. Both commute daily from the DMCC station.

"The metro journey for us is quite comfortable as it takes only fifty minutes and travelling by school bus takes nearly one and half hours. The metro station is right in front of my building," said Raj, adding that he often uses the metro to commute to places he visits with friends.

"It takes Dh7.50 for a one-way commute, but we have taken a monthly pass which comes at a discounted price. It is safe and rewarding for us."