The Dean

.......... but you can't ride it until tomorrow...............


http://khaleejtimes.com/dubaimetro/i...&section=metro

lionheart

If they genuinely want the public to use it, they should have offered free transport for at least the first few days. I won't be using it except possibly for a novelty ride at the weekend for the family. How about you guys?

Blue Cat

huge firework display tonight to celebrate as well

B Bear

It is the very first stumbling step on a long journey. It will have little impact on most people as it goes from and to very few places. The press is trumpeting it with the fervour of discovering a cure for cancer, HIV and H1N1 all in one, as though it is somehow a wise and new discovery. There will be no discernible effect on SZR traffic - the impact is just too small.

In 20 to 30+ years time if/when we have maybe 120 - 200 stations all linked, overlaid with a bus service maybe ten times the current fleet it will have impact. In london, NY, Paris, Moscow etc etc this has taken decades - even centuries to evolve. On the outskirts of london I can leave our house, walk 100 yds either direction and get on a choice of buses to connect with a choice of underground/overground trains. I would simply not contemplate attempting to drive into or across London, not an option now for around 20 years. Public transport is the norm in most major cities now.

So, yes it's a start - but no more. Sure we'll all go along for the ride on a weekend once I've taken a day off to read the acres of rules and regulations that are filling the papers (wish they would do the same camaign for driving!!). In terms of big city development, welcome to the late 19th century, choo choo!

Norm_uk

Same here - I can't it becoming my main mode of getting around like trains were for me in the UK (after my beloved bike). But then I am considering a move to the Gardens area soon as I am getting tired of being taxed by some local landlord under the guise of rent (I won't even mention parking and traffic problems) so I may use the Metro to get into Bur Dubai or the malls on Shk. Zayed in the evenings if I am meeting friends for a drink or ten

N.

RedRoar75

Obviously it pays to take most of the press here with a pinch of salt... but I'd love to borrow your rose tinted spectacles when i get the chance...

Maybe you've not been back to the UK for a while or maybe your house is in a yet undiscovered corner of London where the tubes always run, are never disrupted by rain, sleet, snow and "passenger action", and you always find a seat. Yeah, it's evolved over time but the public transport network in London is far from ideal and on occasion, hardly effective (think back to February's snow). How long has London waited for the much maligned "Cross-rail"? Unfortunately, it might be a system for the late 19th century, but that is where it will remain, forever stuck....

This is a young emirate/city and when you compare it to the infrastructure in most developed established cities, it doesnt fare too well.. but come on, it's not started too shabbily.

klaus3974

I agree with this. Some people tend to forget how the public transportation system dos NOT work in the UK. Or the lame opening of the new terminal in Heathrow. I was there so it is very easy to remember...

Norm_uk

Aside from a bus taking me to college breaking down in winter I have never experienced any major problems with UK public transport. Given the trains there carry literally millions of people each day I don't think it's too bad and just needs upgrading and modernising.

I'd still rather take a train than drive for any journey over 30 miles in the UK.

N.

B Bear

...which is my point, started. Stevenson's 'Rocket' phase. ..... it's a start, but it is years away from providing truly viable alternatives. I was in London last summer and even saw Gulf nationals on buses!

RedRoar75

You've been lucky mate. Used to travel regularly (as student) on the train from Kings Cross to the North East. Nightmare journey, forever delayed & forget about a seat (even though you've paid best part of 100 quid).

Give me the M1 any day (now they've got rid of most of the roadworks!)

mission

This whole metro system hasn't been thought out properly. For a start just look at some of the rail tracks...they duck and dive over the flyovers in addition there doesn't appear to be any form of parking at any of the stations, other than the one i've seen when you're approaching ibn battuta mall...i think they've built a huge 7 or something storey car park linked to the station.

When it's damn hot one can't stand outside for more than a few secs, so how is one gonna walk to and from a station in that kind of heat

Other than taking a novelty ride, I doubt i'll use the metro at all.

dogsbody leader

Well I would have just wet myself laughing if one of the muppets had got his dress caught in the doors.

shakh your bootie

Codswollop. The Singapore MRT didn't take "decades" to be successful, and puts the older tube lines to great shame.

Not to say that the Dubai metro will be similarly meteoric in its rise, as the underlying conditions are different, but the basic tenent of your argument is, sadly, unsustainable.

Confucius

I will use it whenever I can...

Cry haddock

I got it into work this morning. A 2 minute walk from my front door to the station, simple and easy ticketing (although you do have to pay a seperate fee for the physical ticket - even if its just a cheapy red ticket for 2 dhs which will last you 10 trips, although you have to pay the travel fare each time). Trains nice - very wierd sitting in the very front seats ith just a plate glass window in front of you. Smooth ride, seemed to linger at stations a bit longer than required for the 40 odd people on the thing.
I'll certainly use it loads - certainly for City Centre and MoE where the stations are in the mall, and certainly for socials where a few beers makes the hassle of a connecting cab ride worthwhile.
A long way to go, but a good start.
CH