DUBAI // The Middle East's first monorail has made its first official journey, from the bottom of The Palm Jumeirah to the top.
It carried representatives from Nakheel, The Palm Jumeirah's developer, and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) from Gateway Station at the trunk of The Palm to Atlantis Aquaventure Station, a distance of 5.45km, in eight minutes.
Chris O'Donnell, the chief executive of Nakheel,, yesterday promised the driverless monorail would be ready to carry passengers by April as planned.
Although it will be fully automatic, an attendant will be on board at all times. The monorail will initially be able to carry 2,400 passengers an hour in each direction in four separate trains, each made up of three cars.
Eventually, nine trains will have a total capacity of 6,000 people an hour for each direction.
The monorail, built by Nakheel in conjunction with the RTA, will have two other stations at Trump International Hotel and Tower and the Palm Mall.
It will eventually connect to the Dubai Metro when the RTA's Dh4 billion (US$1.09bn) Al Safooh tramline starts to operate.
Due for completion in 2011, the 14km Al Safooh line will run the length of Al Safooh Road, stopping at 19 stations, including Knowledge Village, Media City, Jumeirah Lakes Towers and the entrance to Palm Jumeirah.
Some residents of Palm Jumeirah remain unconvinced of the monorail's usefulness.
"I'm a little confused about it, to be honest," said Orna Theboul, an American livingin an apartment on the trunk of The Palm.
"If it's only running until the beginning of the Palm, I would still need my car to get to work the rest of the way, so I don't see why I would use it.
"If it does night runs, then it would make sense to use it to get from Atlantis to the bottom of the Palm at 3am, and if there were more than two stations available. But apart from that, there isn't much use for it by residents."
Irene Proimos, a South African who has been living on The Palm for three months, said: "I don't think I would use the monorail personally, as it only takes me seven minutes to get to work and I need my car during the day, too.
"It is a great idea but at the same time there's the issue of parking. There has to be available parking for [riders] and already there is a lack of parking available on The Palm."
Mohammed Sadati, a resident of The Palm for two years, said: "If it gives me a better route, reduces the traffic and gives me a better way of getting home, then I would use it."
The monorail has been designed to overcome a number of challenges including the extreme summer heat. Some 1,000m of the rail also runs over sea, and it has an almost silent track so as not to disturb The Palm's residents.
"When we connect the Palm Monorail to the metro we will be able to offer passengers a seamless journey from Dubai International Airport to the hotels on Palm Jumeirah, using just one fare card," said Abdulmajid al Khaja, the chief executive officer of the RTA.
nsamaha@thenational.ae
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Company%20profile
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Paltan
Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UAE v United States, T20 International Series
Both matches at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free.
1st match: Friday, 2pm
2nd match: Saturday, 2pm
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Amjad Gul, CP Rizwan, Mohammed Boota, Abdul Shakoor, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
USA squad: Saurabh Netravalkar (captain), Jaskaran Malhotra, Elmore Hutchinson, Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jannisar Khan, Xavier Marshall, Monank Patel, Timil Patel, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Steven Taylor, Hayden Walsh
