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October 12, 2008


Rail Agency to award two tenders for Dubai Metro works

Emirates Business 24/7 reported that Dubai based Roads & Transport Authority’s subsidiary Rail Agency is set to award two separate tenders for projects worth billions of dirhams to increase the number of lines and length of Dubai Metro. As per report, two contracts, one for the construction of the Blue line and another for the extension of the Red line, will be awarded by the second quarter of 2008.

Mr Abdulredha Abu Al Hassan director of planning at Rail Agency said that "We will be awarding the contract for the construction of the Blue line in the second quarter of 2008 and international companies will be invited to take part in an open tender, Contractors would be chosen on the basis of the latest technologies and innovative designs they brought to the table. Every day, new designs and new technologies are emerging and we will seek to use the latest designs and technologies, which might be different from those used on existing lines."

The Blue line will run along Emirates Road and will link Dubai International Airport to Dubai World Central in Jebel Ali.

The Red line will also be extended by another 12 kilometer from Jebel Ali Free Zone to the Dubai Abu Dhabi border at a cost yet to be revealed. However, Mr Al Hassan said that it would be a separate project whose cost is not currently reflected in the AED 15.5 billion set aside for Dubai Metro. He added that the project was ready for tender and is awaiting for the go ahead from government authorities, as are new development programs along the route.

He said the station on the Dubai Abu Dhabi border will be a multimodal design to accommodate any future integration of the Abu Dhabi rail line. A feasibility study is currently being conducted for an extension of the Green line from Jaddaf, where it stops currently to International City, with a possibility of being extended to Academic City. He added that "Wherever there are new developments, we assess the need for either a metro line or an additional station. More lines and more stations will be added based on the number of passengers."

It may be noted that in 2007, a contract estimated at AED 10 billion was awarded to Parsons Brinckerhoff for the initial design work on the Purple line, an express Metro line linking Dubai International Airport with Al Maktoum International Airport and running along Al Khail Road. Currently, 76% of the work on the Red line has been completed, with all the tunnels and underground station structures finalized and most of the concrete viaducts lay. 26% of the work on the Green line has been finished. All metro tracks under construction are expected to be ready by the end of 2008 and will then undergo testing before the opening of the first phase by September 2009.