Special Features
Dubai Metro
The 15.5 billion metro project launched in October 2005 has entered its 19th month of construction work, out of a total of 49 months. Around 7,000 people are working on the project at different sites across the city. A trial run of the train will be done from June to August 2009, before boarding the train in September 2009. 87 trains will initially run on the Red and Green Lines a total of 74.6 kilometres. It is the world’s largest system, which will use fully automated and driverless trains will be able to carry about 1.8 million passengers every working day.Tunneling work started in February. There will be a total of 12.3km of under ground metro line. A tailor-made tunnel boring machine (TBM) is being used to excavate the first tunnel from Union Square Station to BurJuman Station. The 1.4 km-long tunnels will be completed by August. The second tunnel is being excavated from Union Square Station to Al Rigga Station and it will continue to Deira City Centre Station. The first tunnel will be 2.7km long from Al Ghubaiba Station to Al Saeediya and BurJuman Station. The tunnel will cross the Creek at a depth of 11 metres below the seabed. The average tunnel depth will be 18 metres while maximum will be 28 metres.
Most parts of the Red Line are being built using the road corridor, the Green Line will pass under the buildings in the Central Business District area of Deira and Bur Dubai.
Luxurious interior
The interior of the trains is based on a water and air theme and every train will have five compartments. Every train will have three classes - The Golden Class (VIP), the Women and Children’s Class and the Silver Class (economy). The Golden Class will have a luxurious interior with leather seating. The Women and Children’s compartments will have plenty of space for strollers and bags to ensure a safe and comfortable journey. The Silver Class has been finished in a combination of blues and greens. There will be a policy of priority seating for elderly, injured, special needs people and pregnant women. The compartments will be equipped with audio visual devices. Visual and audio announcement facilities will be available to serve people, especially those with special needs.
Construction of viaducts for elevated tracks
A viaduct is a bridge, which is placed over piers to make a track for the train. Each of these viaduct spans is being made up with a minimum of eight pre-cast viaduct deck segments. Each segment of viaduct, 10 metres wide and four metres in length, is being assembled with other similar sized segments individually to form a complete viaduct span bridging across two supporting piers. Different spans together when assembled will form the bridge deck upon which the trains will travel.
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