Dubai Metro will be inaugurated as originally planned on September 9 – or 09/09/09 – by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
A total of 11 trains will initially travel between 10 stations on the Red Line.
The 10 Red Line stations that will open on September 9 are Rashidiya, Terminal 3 (Dubai International Airport), City Centre, Al Rigga, Union, Khalid bin Al Waleed, Jafiliya, Financial Centre, Mall of the Emirates, and Nakheel Harbour and Tower.
The trains will run at a rate of six per hour and the remaining 19 stations will become operational within the next six months.
Underground sections in the city centre are on the Red Line from the intersection of Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed roads to just before the intersection of Salahuddin and Abu Bakr Al Siddique roads and from Garhoud to Oud Metha Road on the Green Line.
The second section of the network, the Green Line, is due to open next year.
The length of the network had almost doubled since it was first planned because of a series of extensions; the Dubai Metro's Green Line could be extended to International City.
With the Blue Line to follow the Purple Line, Dubai RTA expects 318km of metro lines to be in operation by 2020. To further reduce the area's reliance upon road transport, the authority is considering adding 268km of light rail lines that will serve as feeders to Dubai Metro.
In full operation, Dubai Metro is projected to carry approximately 1.2 million passengers on an average day, and 355 million passengers per year.
