On the morning train, all was fresh, bright and new and rather emotional. By end of day I was able to experience the metro in a calmer, more objective way. This, then, is what I have observed.
- The metro is popular--the trains got more and more crowded as evening wore on. It was standing room only on trains passing Khalid Bin Al Waleed (Bur Juman) station and Union station by 7:30 pm. At 8 pm Rashidiya station was jam packed with the ticket lobby full to capacity with people lining up for tickets. This most certainly were the Sharjah crowds, getting their chance to experience the metro after the work day.
The novelty factor is huge--judging by the make up of the crowds, the enthusiasm, the overheard conversations, novelty has to be the biggest driving factor for the moment, and it has only just begun. I predict it will peak over the next couple of weeks.
Without a doubt, it's impressive--if the intent was to turn heads, they have succeeded. There is an overall sleekness and elegance to the whole metro system. More than the trains, it is the stations. Each one is different, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes quite dramatically. I will need to devote several future posts to the stations.
But, 10 stations won't really cut it--the whole feeder bus thing should do the trick but not with the 10 stations alone. It's a good start, but once the novelty factor wears off, the practicality won't be there until the remaining 19 stations come on line.
The class system--gold/women & kids--is rather awkward--the fact is all the carriages are nice, and if day one is any indication of things, it seems there is absolutely no reason why all of us can't assemble happily in the same carriages. To separate the women just seems antiquated and artificial in the modern, progressive context set by the metro overall, and the gold class thing would appear to have no function at all except for self-aggrandizement. I was in the women & children's cab on one ride and didn't even realize it, nor did anyone else seem to, and by mistake I also ended up in the gold class. I realized it, however, when I sat in the comfy seat, but it seemed so un-metro like to be bedded in comfy cushions. It's quite incongruent.
Hiccups?--sure there were some: very few chairs anywhere in the stations, except for at street level where one can wait for a feeder bus (that is quite nice, btw); not enough ticket/card machines in stations to handle any sort of crowd; feeder bus numbers and arrival times given but no route maps; smallish route maps in the trains themselves which are difficult to read when not standing near them; not very many hand restraints or bars for standing passengers on trains to hold onto; no racks on trains for temporary placement of hand baggage (under the seats would be nice for seated pax)--that's about all I come up with as there are so many more things to be impressed with.
That is my more measured, less emotional account of a first day on the Metro.
Next to come are my station images, with this taster of Khalid Bin Al Waleed (Bur Juman) station:
 A magnificent work of design and functionality |
The Wi-fi Question
What I heard repeatedly was wi-fi on the trains and in the stations. I never did hear that it was going to be free, so I wasn't surprised to find that one would need an account of some sort to log in. I was, however, surprised that it was Du and not Etisalat or better yet a choice of the two. As a Du mobile user I luckily had a scratch card with me--but 20 dh for 3 hours, to be used within only 3 days is steep.
I presume all new Dubai residents with Du ADSL accounts will be able to log in with their existing accounts. But, I suppose the majority of Dubai are still Etisalat customers. So there is sure to be some measure of chagrin.
Here is what one finds when they attempt to login and after they've paid for their connection.
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So, there it is. I can't see so many people having the opportunity to wi-fi anyway as you will most likely not have a seat on the trains or in the stations, and for many travel/wait time will be very short. That said, I'll be sure to have my lap top with me and open whenever I'm there!
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