Quasi-Holiday

Financial Center station: one of the planned 3000 security personnel pegged to guard Dubai's metro system.

Successful Du payment and login this time... finally (27-Sep, evening). Then, a very long 7 minutes before I could log in and get my target page to load (28-Sep, morning)--see also wifi no goes....

Evening train on Saturday, a quasi-holiday. Not crowded at all in the station nor on the trains. Friday is much more the busier day. I'm in the gold class which has some Emirati shebab (young guys), a couple of families with a lot of children and a mix of other nationalities. It sort of seems there are too many kids running around in this cabin. I think the 5 and under free shouldn't qualify for this cabin.

<< Burj Bubai?

I tried the feeder bus today from Financial Center station to Dubai Mall. The bus comes quickly--good frequency--but the route to the mall is rather circuitous and the drop off point is not at any mall entrance. One has to first guess which way it is to an entrance and then start hiking. My guess was wrong, so it was a long walk into one car entrance after another before finally finding a walk-in entrance to the Mall.

So, I doubt many shoppers will make use of this means of transport, especially if they know what it entails. It is a workaround measure until the Burj Dubai station opens, but even then will there be any better way to get from station to mall? A tram was originally planned but that seems nowhere in sight.

More Bits & Pieces

Precariously hanging barricades below sign. >>

An earlier post included a write-up on car access to Rashidiya station, but I didn't have any photos to illustrate the post. Now I do, and I will be sending one of these to the RTA as it reveals the car entrance to the parking structure involving cars narrowly avoiding a precariously hanging barrier.

I will also be sending in the funny RTA bus sign which reads Burj Bubai instead of Burj Dubai. Not a big deal, I know, but it's a shame to mangle the name of the cities' proudest landmark.

The previous post details first and last train timings, and it is rather a shame that the final train out of some stations is just after 10 p.m. That means there is little chance of relying on the train to enjoy an evening out without having to rush to make the last train, especially if one has to get a connecting bus first. I would have thought that the publicized 11:00 pm end of service would have meant 11:00 pm for last departure.

Last train approaching Rashidiya station

First & Last (Metro Station Timings)

Knowing when to be there...

Reading this table:

From Rashidiya station get the first morning train at 6:00 am toward Nakheel Harbour & Tower.
In the evening, get the last train toward NH & T at 22:10.

Rashidiya to Nakheel Harbour & Tower Saturday - Thursday Metro Timings
Station	First Train	Last Train
Rashidiya	6:00	22:10
Airport Terminal 3	6:04	22:14
Deira City Centre	6:10	22:20
Al Rigga	6:12	22:22
Union	6:15	22:25
Khalid Bin al Waleed	6:17	22:27
Al Jafiliya	6:21	22:31
Financial Centre	6:26	22:36
Mall of the Emirates	6:39	22:49
Nakheel Harbour & Tower	6:50 (arv)	23:00 (arv)

Reading this table:

I finish work near the Financial Centre at 10 p.m. What's the last train I can get back to Rashidiya?
It's at 10:36 p.m.

Nakheel Harbour & Tower to Rashidiya Saturday - Thursday Metro Timings
Station	First Train	Last Train
Nakheel Harbour & Tower	6:02	22:12
Mall of the Emirates	6:13	22:23
Financial Centre	6:26	22:36
Al Jafiliya	6:30	22:40
Khalid Bin al Waleed	6:34	22:44
Union	6:37	22:47
Al Rigga	6:39	22:49
Deira City Centre	6:42	22:52
Airport Terminal 3	6:47	22:57
Rashidiya	6:52 (arv)	23:02 (arv)

See also:
What's in a Number, for a sequential list of metro related number facts.

Metro by Numbers

• 0--(dhs) fare to park in designated parking structures; fare for children under age 5 and less than 90cm in height.
  
• 1--free bus ride with same ticket or card after station exit within 30 minute window; no. of grade level stations (Jebel Ali) on Red line.
  
• 1.8--(dhs) starting fare for Tier 0 Silver & Blue card travel up to 3km.
  
• 2--(dhs) starting fare for Red ticket holders on Tier 0 travel; multiple which Gold card holders must pay above Silver card fares; no. of interchange stations (Kkalid Bin al Waleed & Union) for Red & Green lines; p.m. start time of metro on Fridays.
  
• 2.3--(dhs) first tier fare for Silver & Blue card holders for travel within same zone.
  
• 2.5--(dhs) first tier fare for Red card holders for travel within same zone.
  
• 3--dedicated parking structures, at Rashidiya, Nakheel Harbor & Tower and Etisalat (u/c) stations.
  
• 3.75--minutes planned between train arrivals at peak times.
  
  
  
  
• 4--types of metro Nol card available (Silver, Gold, Blue & Red); no. of underground stations (Khalid Bin al Waleed, Union, Al Rigga, Deira City Center) on Red line.
  
• 4.1--(dhs) second tier fare for Silver & Blue card holders for travel to adjacent zone.
  
• 4.5--(dhs) second tier fare for Red card holders for travel to adjacent zone.
  
• 5--cars on each train; no. of zones in which Dubai is divided; validity period in years of Silver, Gold & Blue cards.
  
• 5.8--(dhs) third tier fare and maximum single journey fare for Silver & Blue card holders exceeding two zones in travel.
  
• 6--a.m. start of metro service Saturday-Thursday.
  
• 6.5--(dhs) third tier fare and maximum single journey fare for Red card holders exceeding two zones in travel.
  
• 8--underground stations on Green line (incl. 2 interchange stations).
  
• 9--see earlier post.
  
• 10--stations opened on 09-Sep-2009; no. of times Red ticket can be recharged.
  
  

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• 11--p.m. end of metro service daily, except during Ramadan.
  
• 12--elevated stations on Green line; a.m. end of metro service daily during Ramadan.
  
• 14--(dhs) maximum daily charge for Silver & Red card holders; amount of credit available on a 20 dhs Nol card.
  
• 15--seats in Women & Children's section of the designated carriage.
  
• 18--seats in Gold class section of the designated carriage.
  
• 19--new foot bridges across SZR as part of Red line stations.
  
• 20--(dhs) cost of Silver & Gold card (incl. 14 dhs ride credit); cost for 3 hr wifi service from Du; available credit on 70 dhs Blue card; stations on Green line when completed in mid 2010 (incl. two interchange stations); reported temperature (in Celcius) on board.
  
• 23--km length of Green line.
  
• 24--elevated stations on Red line.
  
• 25--trains in total to run on the Green line.
  
• 26--minutes estimated journey time on Green line end to end.
  
• 27--maximum no. of seats in each of the four Silver class carriages.
  
• 29--stations on Red line when completed by Feb-2010 (incl. 2 shared w/Green line).
  
• 32--km/hr average train speed on Green line.
  
• 42--km/hr average train speed on Red line.
  
• 47--stations in total on Red & Green lines (w/o double counting of interchange stations); km. planned length of the Blue line (Emirates Business 24/7).
  
• 49--km. planned length of the Purple line (Emirates Business 24/7).
  
  
  
  
• 50--(dhs) subscription fee for a Blue card.
  
• 52.1--km length of Red line.
  
• 62--trains in total to run on the Red line.
  
• 64--minutes estimated journey time on Red line end to end.
  
• 70--(dhs) total cost of Blue card.
  
• 78--km combined length of Red & Green lines.
  
• 87--trains in total to run on both Red & Green lines.
  
• 90--km/hr maximum speed of trains; days validity on Red tickets; validity period (in minutes) for tickets/cards used for Tier 0 travel.
  
• 100--(dhs) fine for eating or drinking on metro (ArabianBusiness.com).
  
  
  

  ---

  
  
• 142--seats in total on every train.
  
• 180--validity period (in minutes) for tickets/cards used for Tier 1-3 travel.
  
• 200--(dhs) fine for traveling on metro w/o valid ticket (ArabianBusiness.com).
  
• 320--km of rail network planned by 2020 (Emirates Business 24/7).
  
• 500--(dhs) maximum value which can be stored on Silver, Gold & Blue Nol cards.
  
• 643--passenger capacity (as per design) per train, distributed across the 5 carriages.
  
• 897--passenger peak capacity per train.
  
  

  ---

  
  
• 1992--year project first envisioned.
  
• 2005--year build contract awarded.
  
• 2006--year construction begun on Red line, 21 March (Emirates Business 24/7).
  
• 2009--year of Red line opening.
  
• 2010--year anticipated for completion of Red & Green lines.
  
• 2200--staff recruited to work for Metro by Red line opening (ArabianBusiness.com).
  
• 2700--free parking stalls at Rashidiya station.
  
• 3000--free parking stalls at Nakheel Harbour & Tower and Etisalat (u/c) stations; no. of CCTV cameras installed through the system.
  
• 74319--passengers estimated to utilize the metro per day.
  
• 8009090--no. to call for metro & all RTA related information and guidance.

Sources: My City. My Metro. pamphlet and RTA online.
Red highlights metro costs for regular commuters.

Send me your verified numbers to add to the list.
Random Tidbits

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• credit card recharge of Nol cards not yet available.
  
• Khalid Bin al Waleed station is commonly referred to as Bur Juman station--for reasons obvious to Dubai residents.
  
• Nakheel Harbour & Tower station, referring to a non-existent tower or harbour, may sometimes be referred to as Jumeirah Islands station.
  
  

What's in a Number?

In celebration of metro launch--Gulf News image >>

Shaikh Mohammad punched in the first ticket exactly at 9pm, 9 minutes and 9 seconds.
Gulf News report

It's 11:11 pm as I write. I'm sitting at home, still almost 7 hrs before my first metro ride. Checking the latest news on the metro launch tonight, Gulf News announces once again the significance of the number 9:

The ninth second, of the ninth minute, of the ninth evening hour, of the ninth day, of the ninth month, of the ninth year of the second millennium is when the first metro ticket was swiped!

So what is the significance of the number 9? A quick Google check reveals...

9 - Number of the Moon; Container of all numbers; Number of known astronomical planets. Eternity; Yesod; Endings, echatology; Moons of Saturn; Number of Muses; In the I Ching, 9 is the number of Yang. Arabic Ta (Secret Knowledge ). Number of absolute completion, perfection and wisdom. Since the ennead is the final limitation, it is the acceptance of solitude and the beginning of the inward journey to the Infinite.

OK, not the best of lists--not even worth a link, but we get the picture.

Besides all of that, no one need doubt that the number nine is, from this day hence, Dubai's number!

My own images from tomorrow.