DUBAI, 17 December 2007 -- Companies from France to Japan are vying for a 2 billion dirham ($545 million) contract to build a tram system in Dubai to ease traffic congestion, the London-based Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) reported.
Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)
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said in June it would spend at least 75 billion dirhams over the next five years building roads, bridges and a metro system to keep pace with the population, which the government says will double by 2015. France's Alstom, Italy's Ansaldo, Japan's Marubeni Corp., Australia's Leighton Holdings Ltd. and Germany's Siemens are part of three groups bidding for the design-and-build contract, MEED reported in its latest issue.
The first phase of the system will pass one of Dubai's palm-shaped islands and Mall of the Emirates, which has the Middle East's first indoor ski slope, MEED said. The first lines start operating with the Dubai MetroDubai MetroLoading... system in September 2009.
The population of the Gulf's tourism and trade hub has almost doubled over the past decade and may double again to more than 2 million by 2015, according to figures from the RTARTA
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.
With an economy increasingly based upon financial services, air transport, property development and tourism, Dubai also has a rapidly growing population and severe traffic congestion problems. Population increase is forecast to continue at an annual rate of 6.4 percent to reach some 3 million by 2017, with tourist numbers projected to reach 15 million by 2010. From initial studies beginning in 1997, Dubai MunicipalityDubai MunicipalityLoading... has identified the need for a rail system to supply additional capacity, relieve growing motor traffic and support continuing urban development. Systra was awarded the preliminary engineering contract, and now a consortium of four companies headed by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is leading the project to build the first two lines of a high-tech driverless rapid transit system. Other consortium members include the Japanese Obayashi and Kajima corporations, and Yapi Merkesi of Turkey.
The Metro network will be fully integrated within the network operated by the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA)Roads & Transport Authority (RTA)
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, a body created in 2005. Routes will be organized around the backbone provided by the rail system. Taxi stations and park-and-ride facilities will be included in key Metro stations to further enhance the system's role. Groundworks began in February 2006, centered around the 52.1km Red Line. In August 2006 a second contract worth US$.12bn was awarded to the MHI consortium for bulding the 17.6km Green Line, intersecting with Red Line at two stations.
Green Line will link strategic locations Dubai Airport and Healthcare City. The aim is to open in 2010, one year after the Red Line. In June 2007 Serco (operator of the London Docklands Light Railway) was named as preferred bidder for initial consultation and the system's operation and maintenance.
The£ 400m contract, potentially for up to 12 and a half years, relates to the first two lines.
The 52.1km (32.5 mile) Red Line will have 29 stations, four of which will be underground. It will run from Rashidiva to Jebel Ali passing the American University of Dubai. It is planned that the first phase will open in 2009. The whole 52.1km is expected to take 60 minutes to travel, with an estimated 32,000 passengers per hour.
The 17.6km Green Line which will have 14 stations -- six underground and eight at ground level - from Al Ittihad Square to Rashidiya bus station through Deira City Centre and Dubai Airport Terminals 1 and 3. It will be progressively extended to serve the Deira and Bur Dubai central areas and Souks up to Burjuman and Wafi shopping centres. Interchange stations will be built at Al Ittihad Square and Burjuman with direct connections to the Red Line.
Underground sections in the city centre are on the Red Line from the intersection of Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed roads to just before the intersection of Salahuddin and Abu Bakr Al Siddique roads and from Garhoud to Oud Metha Road on the Green Line.
Elsewhere, trains will run on elevated viaducts, the design and aesthetics developed specifically to enhance the urban architecture along its corridor. In no location will tracks cross highways, ensuring full mode segregation.
A key objective is to minimize the impact on road traffic and on city life during the works. Underground works will be carried out without affecting buildings, and authorities have stated that residents will not be disturbed by excavation work. Visually intrusive overhead contact lines are obviated a third rail collection system. All stations, elevated or underground, will feature platform screen doors for passenger safety and facilitating full air conditioning.
The driverless, fully automated trains will be fully air-conditioned and designed to meet Dubai's specific requirements. The trains will offer standard class with a women and children only section plus a first class section ('carriage for VIPS'). Five-car sets will be approximately 75m long, seating around 400 passengers but with standing room for many more. Numerous double doors will allow fast and smooth flows.
Rolling stock is to be supplied by Kinki Sharyo under a US$456.2m contract to supply 385 cars, with shipments scheduled from 2008. The main depot will be at Rashidya with an auxiliary depot planned in the Jabel Ali area.
Supplied by the Mitsubishi-led consortium, the automatic train control system will allow headways of between 90 seconds and two minutes. In 2005 MHI contracted Alcatel (now Alcatel-Lucent) to supply the driverless train control system and a communications system which covers on-train video surveillance, passenger information, public address and the integrated control centre. The project's signalling system is moving block and fully automated with in-cab signaling.
In full operation, Dubai MetroDubai MetroLoading... is projected to carry approximately 1.2 million passengers on an average day, and 355 million passengers per year.
The operating cost including staff, maintenance and power should be approximately AED570 million per year, planned to be met through fares and additional revenues such as advertisement space and joint development.
In May 2007 the 49 km Purple Line received approval, moving ahead of another future projection, the Blue Line. Parsons Brinckerhoff has been contracted for initial design work on the express, eight station line. The Blue Line will link the current international airport with the new Dubai World Central International Airport which is being built at Jebel Ali, part of a 140km²multi-mode transport hub.
Nine-car trains configured for the demands of airport passengers will take 40 minutes between line termini. Starting construction in March 2009, Purple Line services are scheduled to begin in December 2012.
With the Blue Line to follow the Purple Line, Dubai RTARTA
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expects 318km of metro lines to be in operation by 2020. To further reduce the area's reliance upon road transport, the authority is considering adding 268km of light rail lines that will serve as feeders to Dubai MetroDubai MetroLoading....
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source: zawya.com
