Dubai Metro's $10bn Black Hole

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Dubai Metro's $10bn black hole Sep 09, 2009
What a calculation of this guy.

The cost of building the Middle East’s first public rail system were revealed this week with news from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) that the final figure for the Metro will overrun to around $7.6 billion.........

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/567160-d ... black-hole

Anosh
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Sep 09, 2009
Yes a big waste of money which we the expats will shoulder indirectly, probally by increased car registration, salik fees and gates, bigger fines for small things like over staying paid parking etc etc.

The 10 billion would have been better spent on more better roads, addressing gridlock and bottle neck areas, More effienct bus system, seperate lanes or roads for trucks and buses etc etc.

The Met is nothing but one of those things dubai needed to add to its list of must have to look cool.
desertdudeshj
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Sep 09, 2009
I'm watching the grad opening on T.v. such an achievement for the city and the ppl who built it. Breaking the record on the time spent to build it and the tech used being the longest automatic metro world wide (3 km longer than the Canadian one ) it’s not a waste of money DESERT... it's just to vary the mass transportation methods in the city that will help the city traffic jams. I'm sure there were many studies and consultants before spending all this money and not just a fancy.

focusing only on building roads is not the only solution the city needs and the way I see it has limited space to improve especially in the metro line area.more ppl more cars more traffic jams is Evident .

the metro will pay off financially to the commuters and environmentally to the city, you always have to look further in the future to see the vision.. however ,time will only tell if it will be a successful project or not.lets wait and see.
uaekid
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Sep 10, 2009
I would love to see how many emaratis abadon their cars and use this or even the affluent and middle class expats. The whole metro which has very limited reach in the city is dependant on the feeder buses. And the buses are failed transport system in this city.

Maybe on a holiday when I dont have be in time and looking sharp at my arrival I would use the metro. Otherthan no way I'm going to wait out in the heat sweating my nads of waiting for a bus that will take to the metro and then vice versa.

Until it reaches right into all residential and commercial areas independantly or atleast the majority it wont be a success. No have in dubai has the time or paitence to hop and switch modes of transport three times or more in a single journey with the city. Even R.TArd Officials in admitted in a radio interview the thoughest task is to "persueade" people to give their cars and use this. I'm sure we will very soon see their attempts to "persuade" people into this. I'm guessing very soon I'll be looking to register my cars in Shj or Fujairah !

No doubt its a great engineering feat but its just that and nothing else but a novelty
desertdudeshj
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Sep 10, 2009
nothing happens over night, niether ppl are lean to quick change, it's our nature, now regarding it's rout, I don't live in dubai but I visited many countries that uses metro and non reaches right into all residential areas, it's just imposible . I can't think of any main areas that the metro does not go throw or near by. at the end it is a personal choice to ride it or enjoy the sound of our v8 engines which not every ones owns !!. and I hope you mean MARKEING when you say "persuade" :roll:
uaekid
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Sep 10, 2009
No I did not mean marketing.
desertdudeshj
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Sep 10, 2009
The mreto is very limited to begin with, having only 10 stations open. Once more are open it will be better. BUT they seriously need to look at the timings! Dubai is a 24/7 city, the metro needs to run for longer hours. To stop it at 11pm is barmy! People would use it during the late and early hours to get home from a night out. Plus starting from 2pm on a Friday is crazy, soooooo many people are up and about Friday mornings.
Chocoholic
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Sep 10, 2009
Give it time, I'm sure they'll weed out the flaws in due course. I for one believe that the metro was a critical project which was definately required.
I can't comment on the design, cost etc but the metro itself was a requirement. And it sure does look fine. No complaints here.

Gotta say the RTA does operate a darn impressive fleet eh? Abras, high speed automated buggies, Buses, helicopters...all the props required for the next installation of James Bond. I'm sure finding a Bond girl from here would'nt be a problem.
Villains? Hmmm....Ah yes, those Russians. :D

Although maybe Herve would have something to say bout that :lol:
Misery Called Life
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Sep 10, 2009
What happened to the train service at Palm Jumeira? I never heard if it was a success/failure!!!!
K-Dog
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Sep 10, 2009
desertdudeshj wrote:I would love to see how many emaratis abadon their cars and use this or even the affluent and middle class expats. The whole metro which has very limited reach in the city is dependant on the feeder buses. And the buses are failed transport system in this city.

Maybe on a holiday when I dont have be in time and looking sharp at my arrival I would use the metro. Otherthan no way I'm going to wait out in the heat sweating my nads of waiting for a bus that will take to the metro and then vice versa.

Until it reaches right into all residential and commercial areas independantly or atleast the majority it wont be a success. No have in dubai has the time or paitence to hop and switch modes of transport three times or more in a single journey with the city. Even R.TArd Officials in admitted in a radio interview the thoughest task is to "persueade" people to give their cars and use this. I'm sure we will very soon see their attempts to "persuade" people into this. I'm guessing very soon I'll be looking to register my cars in Shj or Fujairah !

No doubt its a great engineering feat but its just that and nothing else but a novelty


give them some time.. they will fine tune it over a period of time..
everybody learns from mistakes / experiences..

i'm always amazed at some people who just start being cynical and reject things right from the word go as if all the money is being spent from their own pocket and they are going to be greatly affected..

a great city needs multiple modes of transportation.. metro is one of them... in fact a far more environment friendly and efficient one.. people will slowly adopt it..

at least dubai did it.. look at some other arabic coutries.. .despite of having loads of oil money, they have hardly done any thing for their own cities..

probably you will not realized the importance of the metro now.. probably 10-15 years later.. u will appreciate it..
xdude
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Sep 10, 2009
Who didnt see this coming after the mad rush for 9/09/09 ?


Around 70 passengers trying out the Metro for leisure and work were stranded for more than two hours.

Delay on Red Line was the constant and only announcement. The train reached the station around 9.55am and was hit by a technical problem. The issue was resolved around 12.43pm and a second train arrived at the station around 12.55pm and took the waiting passengers.


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BlackburnRovers
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Sep 10, 2009
uaekid wrote:I'm watching the grad opening on T.v. such an achievement for the city and the ppl who built it. Breaking the record on the time spent to build it and the tech used being the longest automatic metro world wide (3 km longer than the Canadian one ) it’s not a waste of money DESERT... it's just to vary the mass transportation methods in the city that will help the city traffic jams. I'm sure there were many studies and consultants before spending all this money and not just a fancy.

focusing only on building roads is not the only solution the city needs and the way I see it has limited space to improve especially in the metro line area.more ppl more cars more traffic jams is Evident .

the metro will pay off financially to the commuters and environmentally to the city, you always have to look further in the future to see the vision.. however ,time will only tell if it will be a successful project or not.lets wait and see.


I can only partly agree. In most countries Metro is mass transit. Literally it means the transport for low-income people. For example predominance of minorities from Asia and Africa among commuters in Rome’s Metro burst upon the eye. That’s why Metro in main European capitals (except Moscow) looks a little better than suburban train but as a rule the station in the walking distance from any point of City Center. So this transport has purely utilitarian function. In contrast spending all that huge money is mostly one of the image projects that Dubai used to be strong with.
Red Chief
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Sep 11, 2009
i wonder if desrtdudesjh was around when the Tube was introduced in London at the end of the 19th century.
it is unfair to compare the metro system in other cities and complain about the one in Dubai. i personally think that the Metro will dramatically change the evolution of Dubai over the next 10 years. Guys lets give credit where deserved. The quality of the project is outstanding. It is unfair to expect residents to rush and adopt the metro in droves. But they will gradually
DPS
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Sep 11, 2009
I doubt that the metro will "change the evolution of dubai" What I'm "complaining" or saying is that is way too expensive ( 10 Billion $'s is no small amount" ) and way to limited and too dependant on the unreliable buses.

For me specially now the metro might be of some use actually as I live right next to it and have 2 stations closeby and a barrage of feeder buses running around a bit too much infact. Overkill.

And the most cruicial thing unique to dubai is its weather. Its not a city you can walk places to, even very short distances most times during the year. Its not like I can take a metro which lands me a 15 mins walk away from my place of work and I walk it there and go to office smelling and looking like I spent a week in the rubbish skip.

Also very hard to forgive the cities majors road networks all uprooted and the diversions and traffic jams that created trying to build this.

Maybe it could have done more cost effective way ? And maybe all the new developments being made should have been made with the metro in mind ? Zero access to any of these without pumping more billions years of constructions and having an eye sore of a metro Line.
desertdudeshj
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Sep 11, 2009
like I said we are not lean to changes ! EU got them but instead of the heat there is ran and snow ! and I can't see why you thing the metro should take you to teach and every building door, it's not built for such a thing. beside you have to look at how the city was built being spacious was a positive point not like in EU where building are clued to each other and every thing is in the city center.

now for the price neither of us is a specialist in metro expenses and why would you blame them for building a state of the art metro ? of course it has it price. Unless you want them to use the steam engines one !
uaekid
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Sep 11, 2009
at the end it is a public transport not an individual one ,meaning they couldn't consider every single one statues . buses don't come to your door steps to pick you up neither are the taxies, right ?
uaekid
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Sep 12, 2009
I am very excited about the metro, even though we now hear of technical difficulties on a number of trains.
However I didnt undertand the obsession with 09.09.09, what it did achieve by opening on that day, when it wold probably have been better to open it when the system was smoothly running...?
BlackburnRovers
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Sep 24, 2009
LINK is not woking... =
finny76
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Sep 25, 2009
K-Dog wrote:What happened to the train service at Palm Jumeira? I never heard if it was a success/failure!!!!

It's still in operation but expensive and little used. When it connects to the metro it might see more traffic.

http://www.dubaifaqs.com/palm-jumeirah-monorail.php
bonk
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Re: Dubai Metro's $10bn black hole Sep 25, 2009
Anosh wrote:The cost of building the Middle East’s first public rail system were revealed this week with news from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) that the final figure for the Metro will overrun to around $7.6 billion.........

Some of that is due to reconfiguration/redesign and extensions to the green line. It wasn't intended to be a profit making project directly. The indirect benefits could be substantial. So far it seems to be popular but once the sightseeing passengers stop it will be clearer. I think it's great :).

http://www.dubaifaqs.com/dubai-metro.php

http://www.dubaifaqs.com/dubai-metro-green-line.php
bonk
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Sep 25, 2009
It's actually incredible to read some of the negativity that people write. It has to start somewhere people, do you thing the London Underground was constructed for free?, or that the Paris Metro was donated by a well wisher?, the answer is no. Of course it costs money, Dubai has taken a major leap forward with the Metro and we should all support it.
sage & onion
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Sep 25, 2009
sage & onion wrote:Dubai has taken a major leap forward with the Metro

Yes, and even that's putting it mildly. It's not till you actually get on it and go for a trip that you realise how much. Well, those people who can't see past the irritations that are bound to happen at the start of any big project launch probably won't get it. This will be a transformation on a par with dredging the creek, building Jebel Ali Port, starting EK, etc.
bonk
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Sep 25, 2009
I think it should be called Oprah from now on ...
viking-warrior
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