Dubai-based Emaar Malls Group, part of Emaar Properties, has launched a project to build a pedestrian link that will connect the Dubai Mall metro station with the Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa development.

The 820-metre long Dubai Mall Metro Link will be constructed by the local Dutco. The link will have 10 travellators, each with a length of between 70 and 120 metres. There will an additional central walkway that will give additional space for pedestrian use.

The pedestrian link is scheduled to open in 2013.

Emaar had planned a link to the mall through a mixed-use development next to the metro station but that project has been on hold since 2008.

Dutco Balfour Beatty, which is part of the Dutco Group, was part of the contracting joint venture with Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company that built Dubai Mall between 2004 and 2008.

Metro passengers currently visiting the Dubai Mall either have to walk or use a bus service, whereas visitors to Mall of the Emirates can access the shopping centre across a covered bridge.