Burj Dubai station set to open

DUBAI // The Metro station at Burj Dubai will open on Monday to coincide with the official opening of the world's tallest tower, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said yesterday. The RTA will also provide extra buses to handle the large crowds anticipated for the opening of the tower, it said. The buses and the Metro station, which stands a few hundred metres from the tower, should help to keep congestion in hand, the authority said. "We want to try and alleviate the traffic on the day of the opening because everybody will want to see what is going on and we'd expect traffic to be very heavy around the area," said Peyman Younes Parham, the RTA's director of communications. The 818-metre Burj Dubai was to have a partial opening on September 9, the day the Metro started operating, but the opening was pushed back to January 4 to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE, becoming Ruler of Dubai. The station, capable of handling 11,000 passengers every hour, is expected to process about 10,000 passengers each day initially, said Mattar al Tayer, the RTA's chairman of the board. It was difficult to estimate how many people would use it on the opening day, he said. The Metro stop has residential and recreational facilities as well as restaurants and retail outlets, Mr al Tayer said. It also serves nine hotels. The station represents part of the Dh28 billion (US$7.62bn) that will be spent on the rail system. Nearly a dozen feeder buses will operate on two routes linking Burj Dubai to nearby landmarks including The Palace and The Address hotels and Dubai Mall, as well as places further afield such as the Mazaya Centre. Serco, the Metro system operator, has its head office opposite the new station. The RTA opened 10 stations on September 9 on the 52km Red Line, which has carried close to six million passengers. The remaining 18 Red Line stations will be opened by the end of February. The Green Line is scheduled to be completed in the final quarter of next year, the RTA has said. [e-mail]