Dubai considers Expo metro lines

22 January 2013

Rail connections could also serve existing communities

Dubai is considering plans for new metro lines that will serve the site of Dubai Expo 2020 site next to Al-Maktoum International airport.

The emirate’s Roads & Transport Authority has prepared a number of solutions for connecting the expo site at Dubai Trade Centre-Jebel Ali. The most likely solution is understood to be a spur line that will be part of the existing Red line and will also create options for stations at existing residential and industrial areas that are not currently on the metro network.

The proposed line will involve a section of the Red line running from the metro car park at Nakheel Harbour and Tower station, past Discovery Gardens, the Green Community, and Dubai Investment Park, before heading out to the expo site next to the new airport.

This option would mean that trains on the Red line will either terminate at their final destination, Jebel Ali, or the Expo.

Another alignment that is being considered is an extension to the Red line beyond Jebel Ali that will head inland to the Expo site. This solution would mean longer journey times to the Expo, and would not provide the opportunity to build new stations for existing centres of population and industry.

This 438-hectare expo site will be developed as a permanent attraction, aimed at boosting Dubai’s position as a regional and international tourism destination.

Dubai World Trade Centre is managing the project. The masterplan for the site has been prepared by a team led by US-based architectural firm HOK. Other consultants working on the scheme include US-based Thinkwell, US-based Populous and the UK’s Arup.

The UAE’s bid for the 2020 Expo was submitted in December last year to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the international organisation responsible for overseeing the bidding, selection and organisation of World Expos.

Dubai is competing against four other candidate cities bidding to host the 2020 World Expo, including Ayutthaya in Thailand; Ekaterinburg in Russia; Izmir in Turkey; and Sao Paulo in Brazil. The winning city will be announced in November 2013.

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