DUBAI // Transport chiefs have delayed the opening of some of the final eight Red Line stations on the Dubai Metro. The delay has been caused by low projected numbers of probable users and a lack of development around some stations, said Ramadan Mohammed, the director of rail operations at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). Earlier, the RTA had said that the stations would be open this autumn.
"We will open some stations by the end of the year, in the fourth quarter," Mr Mohammed said. "Some stations we may keep closed longer. All eight will not be opened at the same time. It will depend on the ridership figures we get. We are constantly getting data." The stations that will remain closed have been identified based on a lack of expansion in the communities around them. A final decision on the short-listed stations could come soon, Mr Mohammed said. He did not specify a date.
The RTA's marketing and communications director said in May that all 29 of the line's stations would be in full operation by October. Those that have not yet opened are Business Bay, First Gulf Bank, Sharaf DG, Nakheel, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Energy Station, Jebel Ali Industrial and Jebel Ali. Of those, only Sharaf DG and Jumeirah Lakes Towers are near residential areas. Eleven additional Red Line stations have opened this year after the initial "soft" launch with 10 stops in September last year. At 52km, the Dh29 billion system will be the world's longest driverless rail system when complete. Its total number of passengers since it began service passed the 23 million mark in July.
News that the Red Line will not be fully operational this year disappointed some commuters who were looking forward to having open stations closer to home. Tanya Rehmani, a 23-year-old Pakistani who lives near the Sharaf DG station, was surprised that the entire Red Line would not be running this year. "It cannot be so. They had given a deadline," she said. "We should trust them that they will open."
Ms Rehmani's family bought an apartment near the station in March, believing it would open soon. She now takes a taxi to the nearby Mall of the Emirates station to get to work in a downtown trading company. Other commuters wondered which stations would go into service first, given that the opening of the remaining stations rested on the pace of development around them. "They may start whatever, whichever stations, but I hope Business Bay is one of them," said Sami Kher, the owner of an electronics shop near the unopened stop. "Every time a station opens we hope it was this one close to us. It will mean more customers, more business." Those expectations seemed valid considering Metro passenger numbers, which were averaging 120,000 a day on weekdays and 130,000 a day on weekends, Mr Mohammed said. Those figures will probably continue to rise once the Green Line opens. While the Green Line opening is on track for August next year, the initial number of its stations also hinges on anticipated usage, Mr Mohammed said. There are 20 stations planned on the line, including where it intersects with the Red Line at the Burjuman and Union Square stops. "All the Green Line stations will be ready but it depends on ridership," Mr Mohammed said. "If you look at Jadaff station there is no development, there is no construction around it for opening this station." See the latest interactive maps and features for the metro at www.thenational.ae/metro
rtalwar@thenational.ae
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
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
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Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
Men’s squad: Faisal Al Ketbi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Kathiri, Thiab Al Nuaimi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Mohamed Ali Al Suwaidi, Farraj Khaled Al Awlaqi, Muhammad Al Ameri, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, Saeed Al Qubaisi, Abdullah Al Qubaisi and Hazaa Farhan
Women's squad: Hamda Al Shekheili, Shouq Al Dhanhani, Balqis Abdullah, Sharifa Al Namani, Asma Al Hosani, Maitha Sultan, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Maha Al Hanaei, Shamma Al Kalbani, Haya Al Jahuri, Mahra Mahfouz, Marwa Al Hosani, Tasneem Al Jahoori and Maryam Al Amri
Company%20Profile
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Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
