The government of Dubai has given the public a sneak peek of the design of the planned extension of the Dubai Metro’s Red Line towards the site of Expo 2020.
The new Metro route will be 15 kilometers long and will extend all the way to the site of Expo 2020. The project includes seven stations – five elevated and two underground. The project’s completion rate has reached 53 percent, reported WAM.
Expo 2020 Metro station
The Expo 2020 site will be the final station of the 15-kilometer Metro extension.
The design of the iconic station at the Expo site features plane wings that reflect the city’s journey towards the future through innovation. One of the key stations of the project that will serve millions of visitors, it has been designed to ensure the smooth entry and exit of passengers at all times.
Expo Station, which has a capacity of 522,000 passengers per day in both directions or 29,000 riders per hour per direction. The Station has two platforms and three routes linked to Expo 2020 and COEX as well as the Trade Centre and the urban complex. It will be integrated with public transport and parking will be provided for buses and taxis.
Also a part of the 15-kilometer extension are other stations such as Discovery Gardens, Furjan, Jumeirah Golf Estates and Dubai Investment Park.
The project also features an interchange station linking Route 2020 and the Red Line of Dubai Metro at Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station. Its design is similar to the existing Metro stations. The designs of the elevated and underground stations were tailored to provide higher capacity than the existing stations on the Red Line. The metro stations will be featuring four different themes – air, earth, fire, and water.
The first of the new metro trains to be used on this route will arrive in Dubai in November. The first train will start operations in December. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will start testing carriages in May 2019, and conduct test runs of trains in February 2020 to ensure the readiness of the train and control systems. The test runs will continue until the official opening of the project.
Passenger services due to begin on May 20, 2020, five months ahead of the opening of the Expo. The journey time from the Expo site to Dubai Marina is expected to be 16 minutes.
