(MENAFN- The Peninsula) It took more than 1,000 experts to turn the Dubai Metro dream into a reality and build the first driverless rail network in the Middle East.
At 75 kilometres, the metro is the longest service of its kind and it will grow by 15 kilometres after approval last week for an extension that will include seven more stations, taking it to the Expo 2020 site, reported a local daily.
The Middle Eastern division of Atkins, a UK engineering and design company, played a major role in the Dubai Metro story, and it is working on similar projects in Doha and Riyadh.
Paul Groves, Atkins design director of tunnels and ground engineering, said: "Riyadh shares many of the characteristics of the Dubai Metro.
"The issues are about land, where there is space, and what the catchment area is for passengers."
He said there will be 18 underground stations in the Doha metro. Going underground, he said, frees up ground or elevated space for development.
"If you use elevated railway, it is cheaper than underground stations. But with underground stations you retain the commercial value of surface land space," he said.
"In many of the Gulf cities, many of the underground stations are built with the provision of building on top of them in the future.
"The Burjuman station [in Bur Dubai] was a top-down excavation and built in the roadway. If you [locate] railway stations under junctions, then you can add passenger access entrances at all four corners, so the catchment area for pedestrians is much bigger."
The new Route 2020 will serve 240,000 people living at The Gardens, Discovery Gardens, Al Furjan, Jumeirah Golf Estates and Dubai Investments Park. The metro serves an estimated 375,000 passengers daily.
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