Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has invited firms to bid by 24 May for the design and tender document preparation contract for the Dubai Metro Green line extension.

The extension will take the metro line from its existing terminus at Creek station in the Jadaf area, across the creek to the Dubai Creek Harbour development and on to Academic City.

MEED understands RTA plans to procure the 11 stations on the planned extension using a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

RTA is also understood to be considering procuring transit-oriented development (TOD) schemes on up to four of the planned 11 stations. TODs typically comprise commercial, residential and retail spaces in the proximity of transport hubs designed to increase public transport usage.

The Green line extension will be a boost for Dubai Creek Harbour, which is being developed by local firms Dubai Holding and Emaar Properties. The six-square-kilometre development will have a large shopping mall and The Tower at Dubai Creek Harbour, which, when completed, is expected to be the world’s tallest man-made structure.

The connection to Silicon Oasis and Academic City will also catalyse further development in that area of Dubai.

The Green line extension is just one of the future lines the RTA is considering. In December 2016, the authority awarded UK-based Atkins a consultancy contract to update and modify proposed future metro lines and other public transport networks such as the tram.

The transport agency’s previous 2030 masterplan included a 421km-long railway network with 197 stations.

Dubai is already working on a 15km extension to the Red line. Last year, RTA awarded an AED10.6bn ($2.9bn) deal to design and build the Dubai Metro’s Route 2020 link to a consortium of Spain’s Acciona, Turkey’s Gulermak and France’s Alstom.

RTA said the Dubai Metro Red and Green lines attracted over 200 million riders in 2017, up from just 38.9 million in 2010, the driverless metro's first full year in operation.