Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is planning to use private sector funding for future rail projects in the emirate.

“We originally looked at the private sector for the Red and Green lines. We are now ready to revisit those studies and opinions. We are ready to accept proposals and Dubai is ready to go into partnerships,” said Abdulredha Hussain al-Hassan, director of planning and rail development of the RTA at the MEED Middle East Rail Projects Conference on 12 October.

The authority plans to build 240km of rail lines and 250km of tram lines in Dubai.

Al-Hassan said the RTA is considering several financing options, but the most likely in current market conditions is a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement.

Al-Hassan added that the authority will make future rail projects more attractive to the private sector by giving them access to revenues from station-naming rights, retail units at stations, nearby real estate developments, and advertising.

On 9 September, Dubai opened the first part of its new metro network, the Red Line.

The Green Line will open in mid-2010. The two lines cost AED28bn ($7.6bn) to build. The metro network runs for about 75 kilometres (MEED 22:9:09).