Dubai on Sunday set out plans to more than double its number of Metro and tram stations by 2040 under a major public transport development drive.
The expansion project forms part of a wider economic strategy unveiled during a meeting of the Executive Council of Dubai.
The gathering was chaired by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and First Deputy Ruler of Dubai.
Dubai currently has 55 Metro stations - 35 on the red line and 20 on the green line - as well as 11 tram stops, according to the website of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, which operates the emirate's rail network.
This number is to be increased to 96 stations spanning 140 kilometres by 2030, a Dubai Media Office statement said.
"It aims to cover 140 stations over 228 square kilometres by 2040," the statement added.
The expansion project is key to efforts to develop areas surrounding Dubai Metro stations to support the emirate's vision for a '20-minute city'.
The blueprint includes increasing the share of public transport to 45 per cent, reducing carbon emissions to 16 tonnes per capita, improving quality of public spaces to encourage walking, and increasing shaded areas.
The action plan will also be centred on boosting the populations of areas surrounding stations and increasing the number of residential, commercial, office, and service spaces around the Metro, attracting users, and increasing economic spaces.
Public transport boost
Work on the Dubai Metro Blue Line will start this year, the Roads and Transport Authority said in February.
Set to transform the north-east of the city, the Dh18 billion ($4.9 billion) project will feature 14 stations and add 30km to the Metro network, more than half of it underground.
Mattar Al Tayer, director general of the RTA, said: “This year will witness the start of implementation of the Dubai Metro Blue Line project.”
Mr Al Tayer said the Metro accounted for the largest proportion of users of mass transit, shared transport and taxis last year, at 37 per cent.
The RTA said the combined ridership of public transport and shared mobility, including Dubai Metro, tram, buses, marine transport and taxis reached about 702 million, up 13 per cent from 621.4 million in 2022.
When completed, the Blue Line will connect five principal urban regions of Dubai – Bur Dubai and Deira, Downtown and Business Bay, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Marina and JBR and Expo City Dubai.
The project is scheduled to be finished in 2029, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Dubai Metro.
Support for Dubai's mosques
The Executive Council approved plans to double the number of Emiratis working in mosques.
The 'Manbar' programme aims to provide citizens with the skills and qualifications needed to serve places of worship.
The initiative, overseen by the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities, will help citizens to take part in delivering prayers, the call to prayer, and the Friday sermon.
"The programme provides citizens with all the training they need, in addition to opportunities to sponsor and train students for permanent appointments," Dubai Media Office said.
"All participants are comprehensively evaluated beforehand and until their graduation."
The council also announced the ‘Ghras Al Khair’ programme, which will partner with young influencers and content creators to champion traditional values of tolerance, harmony and cohesion to strengthen national identity.
The programme will also support educational projects in schools and universities, along with digital awareness campaigns.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
Seven tips from Emirates NBD
1. Never respond to e-mails, calls or messages asking for account, card or internet banking details
2. Never store a card PIN (personal identification number) in your mobile or in your wallet
3. Ensure online shopping websites are secure and verified before providing card details
4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
6. Track bank notifications regarding transaction discrepancies
7. Report lost or stolen debit and credit cards immediately
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The biog
Fast facts on Neil Armstrong’s personal life:
- Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio
- He earned his private pilot’s license when he was 16 – he could fly before he could drive
- There was tragedy in his married life: Neil and Janet Armstrong’s daughter Karen died at the age of two in 1962 after suffering a brain tumour. She was the couple’s only daughter. Their two sons, Rick and Mark, consulted on the film
- After Armstrong departed Nasa, he bought a farm in the town of Lebanon, Ohio, in 1971 – its airstrip allowed him to tap back into his love of flying
- In 1994, Janet divorced Neil after 38 years of marriage. Two years earlier, Neil met Carol Knight, who became his second wife in 1994
