Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) says that not all of the remaining eight stations on the Red line of the Dubai metro will open by the end of 2010 as planned.

The delay is due to low expectations of passenger volume and a lack of development around some of the stations. While some of the eight remaining stations will be open by the end of the fourth quarter, the rest will depend on passenger traffic forecasts.

The stations that are not yet open are Business Bay, First Gulf Bank, Sharaf DG, Nakheel, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Energy Station, Jebel Ali Industrial and Jebel Ali. Only Sharaf DG and Jumeirah Lakes Towers are near residential areas.

The Red Line currently has 21 working stations on its route. In July, the RTA said that 23 million passengers have used the Red line of Dubai Metro since it began operations in September 2009 up until 1 July and that these numbers were still rising (MEED 11:7:10).

The Green line is still expected to open as planned in August 2011 after a year-long delay resulting from a design change. However, the 20 stations on the Green line will open depending on the progress of development of their locations and the passenger demand.