The 30-km extension of Dubai Metro — called Blue Line — that will serve a wide area covering about 1 million people, has been approved, it was announced on Friday.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said the latest project in the emirate’s public transport sector will be built at a cost of Dh18 billion.
Blue Line will be connected to the existing Red and Green Metro lines. It will have a total length of 30km, of which 15.5km will be underground (at a depth of up to 70 metres) and 14.5km will be elevated rail.
The areas that will be served by Blue Line include Dubai Festival City, Dubai Creek Harbour, International City, Al Rashidiya, Al Warqa, Mirdif, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Academic City, and other neighbouring areas. Official operation will begin by 2029, transporting about 320,000 new passengers daily.
Here’s a preview of the route and the mega project:
In his tweet, Sheikh Mohammed highlighted the importance Dubai Metro as the backbone of the city’s public transport system, having served over 2 billion commuters in the past 14 years.
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With the completion of Blue Line, the Dubai Metro – which is recognised as the world’s longest driverless Metro network that first rolled out on September 9, 2009 – will have a total of 131km network rail. There will be a total of 168 trains passing through 78 stations.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, shares more details in this interview:
Dubai Creek crossing
The Blue Line will have the first trains that will cross Dubai Creek, coming from the southern terminus of Green Line in Al Jaddaf, towards Dubai Festival City and Dubai Creek Harbour.
It will also have the most expansive underground station covering 44,000 square metres in International City area, aside from having an iconic station on the Dubai Creek.
In terms of eco-friendly and sustainable construction, Blue Line will be built compatible with Green Buildings specifications with additional requirements to achieve the highest Platinum category.
Blue Line stations
As reported last month by Khaleej Times, based on a tender issued by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) for the design and build of Blue Line, there will at total of 14 stations for the new rail. Out of which, seven are elevated, including one iconic station; five underground, including one interchange station; and two elevated transfer stations connected to the existing Centrepoint station, the eastern terminus of Red Line in Rashidiya; and Creek station, the southern terminus of Green Line in Al Jaddaf.
Also included in the tender was the supply of 28 new driverless trains, as well as construction of one new depot to accommodate up to 60 trains, and building of all associated roads, facilities and utility diversion works for the Blue Line.
Deadline for the submission of detailed proposals from contractors, joint ventures or consortiums was set on November 24.
Construction plan
After thorough evaluation, the announcement of the project awarding will be done next year. Tunnel boring to create an underground corridor for the Blue Line will start in 2025.
Trial operation is expected to happen in 2028 and official rollout in 2029.
The Blue Line metro extension is part of Dubai 2040 Urban Plan, which was launched in March 2021 in anticipation of Dubai’s population reaching 5.8 million by 2040, up from 3.3 million in 2020. The city’s daytime population is set to increase from 4.5 million in 2020 to 7.8 million in 2040, necessitating a “comprehensive plan for a sustainable urban development”.
Blue Line is expected to meet the rapid economic and urban growth in Dubai as it fosters linkages between main hubs of economic and social activities, according to the tender released by the RTA.