Burj Dubai Metro station may open on same day as tower

DUBAI // Transport chiefs are considering opening the Burj Dubai Metro station next month to coincide with the debut of the world's tallest tower. The 818-metre Burj Dubai will open on January 4 and stands within a few hundred metres of a Metro stop of the same name. However, the Burj Dubai stop is among the 19 stations on the Red Line that have yet to be completed. A Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) official said a final decision had yet to be made.

"We are thinking about it but it is a complicated process to put just one extra station on the line," said Peyman Younes Parham, the authority's director of marketing and corporate communication. The 52km Red Line opened on schedule on September 9 after three years of construction, but only 10 of 29 stations were ready for passengers. Earlier this month, officials said the remaining 19 stations would open in February.

Burj Dubai was previously planned to have a "soft-launch" opening on September 9 to coincide with the Metro's debut, but the opening date was pushed back to January 4 to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid becoming Ruler of Dubai. The closest open station to the Burj Dubai stop is the Financial Centre station, 1km from the tower. Mattar al Tayer, the RTA's chairman and executive director, two weeks ago said work at most of the unopened stations was 80 per cent complete, and trial runs would soon begin.

Workers are racing to finish electrical and mechanical work, road improvements, landscaping, bus stops and taxi ranks, he said. It was previously said that the remaining stations would be opened over a period of days in clusters of five or six. [e-mail]