It's a success (with a few glitches)

Despite some confusion, a few delays and long ticket queues, things were generally smooth on the first full day of operation

Passengers take photos from on board the first train of the day on the Dubai Metro.

DUBAI // Although ticket queues were long, some trains broke down and general confusion often reigned, the public launch of the Metro yesterday was deemed by international rail experts to be a success. "It is usual to have those types of problems, and you've got to be gentle with the system for a few days if not weeks," said Christian Wolmar, a British raily historian, author and broadcaster. "It is pretty standard, and using new technology with driverless trains, it is bound to have a few teething problems."

As the Red Line opened to the public, thousands of people put trains and stations to the test, especially at Mall of the Emirates, where long queues formed at the end of the day. Hundreds of people continued to line up at the station, crowding on to each train as it came, as the 11pm closing time approached. The Roads and Transport Authority had been saying, up until two weeks before the launch, that there would be a train every three to four minutes during peak hours, and that 29 stations would be open and ready for business by Wednesday.

Instead, on opening day there was one train every 10 minutes, and only 10 of the stations were open. At one point yesterday, a train bound for Nakheel Harbour and Tower station stopped at the Mall of the Emirates station, and passengers had to change trains to continue their journey. Delay announcements became the norm as crowds grew bigger throughout the day. A spokesman for Serco, the Metro's operators, said signalling problems caused the initial delays. Later in the day, the company could not be reached for comment to elaborate on additional glitches.

Because of the sheer scale and ambitious nature of the project, experts said, such problems were to be expected. "I think to ask for it to work seamlessly from day one is a big ask," said Philip Sutton, editor of Rail Express, a UK-based specialist magazine. "For a system that size, going live sounds like a tremendous achievement, and if that is the level of problems they had on the first day, I think that could be easily described as a success."

"What you've got to bear in mind is you can't expect things of that complexity to work off the bat. The first day is always going to hit problems that haven't occurred previously, and the big factor you can't plan for is human interaction." The technical complexities of launching the Dh28 billion (US$7.6bn) driverless Metro, according to Mr Sutton, were immense. Problems on lines can be expected on new metro systems, he said, even if they are tested regularly up to the launch. Serco was right to phase in 10 of the 29 stations, he said, as well as reduce the frequency of trains.

"We've had loads of glitches in the tram systems over here," he said. "I think you've got to be realistic. If you buy a new car, you would not expect to jump in it and drive around the world. You have to run it in. The staff have to become familiar with the systems and the ticketing operations." Even after the trial runs and testing programmes, Mr Sutton said, there would still be problems. "You can make the silliest of mistakes, like signage," he said. "If it's not obvious, you can send all the people to the wrong platform, and it could be the fact a sign is a couple of metres out."

Yesterday's passengers seemed to take it all in their stride. "It's bound to have these problems," said Afif Diab, an employee of Emirates Islamic Bank, from Abu Dhabi. "Everything ran smoothly. The tickets were a bit confusing, but everything else is fine." Rajah Keach, an accountant based in Bur Dubai, said he waited at Mall of the Emirates station for nearly an hour to get to the train yesterday afternoon.

"I first had to queue for a ticket, which took about 45 minutes because there were so many people," he said. "It is the first day, and like everybody else I am testing it out. I just hope it is not like this all the time." The Metro will not open today until 2pm, but it will resume regular hours tomorrow at 6am. [e-mail]