Green Line Still Set to Open Early September

So Mattar al Tayer, chairman of the RTA, has confirmed that the Dubai Metro green line is still on schedule to open in early September, possibly at the start of the Eid al Fitr holiday. A fixed date has not been given as work is still ongoing and no doubt we will hear nearer the time when it will open and which stations.

Check the map below for the green line stations.

Dubai Metro: Green Line Possibly Set to Open in September

So, according to Arabian Business who spoke to Abdul Younes at the RTA, the Green Line of the Dubai Metro is due to be completed in August and opened some time in September. No date has been set for this which I have to say leads me to believe that it is unlikely it will happen. How often have the RTA set dates for the opening of stations (and the Green Line in fact) - only for those daters to be postponed as they crept ever closer? I don't think I know any other country that would just announce dates and then delay them so frequently. Don't get me wrong, I think the Metro is a real boost to the Emirates public transport system but why lift up people's hopes only to dash them again? It seems to be a true local tradition to do such a thing - so many times I have heard people say - yes that will be ready in 2 weeks... 2 weeks later nothing happens etc etc and the Metro is just the same. If they could manage expectations they wouldn't have a country full of disappointed people - tell us the Green Line will not open until January and we can work with that. But tell us it opens in September, we make plans around that and you are only set to disappoint.

I guess time will tell but if there was gambling allowed in this country I wouldn't bet my last dirham on it.

Dubai Metro Green Line Will Be Extended

Although it has been announced that the opening of the Dubai Metro green line will be delayed until late in 2011 (if then), this has been tempered by the news that the green line will be extended further out to include International City and the Fruit and Vegetable Market at Ras al Khor. To be honest, this should have happened in the first place in my opinion. Having lived in International City for 3 years it is one place that would really appreciate a Dubai Metro station. There are thousands of individuals and families living there, most of whom are on low incomes, who would be exactly they type of people who would use the metro. At the moment the bus goes through International City but it takes a long while to reach Rashidiya so that it almost makes it not worth using.

When Will The Green Line Open?

So the Dubai Metro Green Line was supposed to open in August this year (2011) and indeed only a few weeks ago the RTA were still saying that it would open then. But as always seems to happen, all of a sudden they announce that there will be a delay and it won't actually open until the last quarter of the year. Given that it is still 6 months or so away, do I believe that will actually be the case, well I am not sure as it seems like these things keep getting delayed. Cuts have already been made to the Dubai Metro running costs so I feel it is likely that either it will only open next year or else only some of the stations will open at the end of this year.