Dubai Metro hits 23 million

Dubai Metro hits 23 million

More than 130,000 passengers carried in one day.

July 10, 2010 11:47 by Samuel Potter

The number of passengers carried by the Dubai Metro since its launch in September 2009 has now broken the 23 million barrier, reports Zawya.com.

According to Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board & Executive Director of the Roads & Transport Authority, the mass transit system surpassed 23 million in the first week of July. He said the milestone corresponded with a new daily ridership height of 130,529, which occurred on July 1.

“People have started to perceive the benefits and advantages of using of public transport such as the psychological and physical comfort in transit, and reduced fuel and vehicle maintenance costs besides the contribution of using public transport to effectively cutting road accident mortalities, and reducing carbon emissions from vehicle exhausts,” said Al Tayer.

“The number of metro users is steadily on the rise since the launch of the service on 09 September 2009 with ridership jumping from 1.8 million passengers in October 2009 to 3.3 million passengers in June 2010 recording in the process an increase rate as high as 185 per cent. In September 2009 the number of metro commuters clocked 1,196,920 passengers and the following month saw an increase in the ridership to 1,767,879 passengers. Metro ridership broke the two million passenger barrier in December 2009 and the number kept rising to reach 3,193,087 passengers in May 2010 and touched a higher point last June by clocking 3,262,912 passengers,” continued Al Tayer.

According to a press release, Khalid Bin Al Waleed station is the busiest on the system, closely followed by Mall of Emirates and Al Ittihad.

Tags: Dubai metro, dubai metro numbers, number of dubai metro passengers, number of passengers on the dubai metro, number of people carried on the dubai metro

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4 Comments

Javed Habib on July 10, 2010 10:14 pm

I think news in this country is more like typing whatever any government official said instead of checking the actuals and facts. Ridiculous is the fact that a country with a total population of 5-6 million claims that 23 million people have travelled metro. The sole fact that this is absolutely false is the fact that metro officials have no way to find out how many people actually purchase metro cards as no identification is required to purchase a metro card. Secondly, i say i can purchase 2-3 cards if i dont maintain old card after finishing my balances. many others can do it too. so, how can anyone claim that 130k passengers per month are buying metro cards? hence, stop misleading people.
smithy on July 11, 2010 8:49 am

Whilst I agree with Javed that UAE media is too ready to quote officals without at least a cursory check of facts, he seems to have missed the point here. What is being reported is the total number of trips made which I guess is recoded at the station turnstiles. 130k trips are made in one month and that is not related to the number of cards purchased or how many people buy them. For all I know it’s just one crazy guy making all those trips.
Andrew on July 11, 2010 9:18 am

“People have started to perceive the benefits and advantages of using of public transport such as the psychological and physical comfort in transit, and reduced fuel and vehicle maintenance costs besides the contribution of using public transport to effectively cutting road accident mortalities, and reducing carbon emissions from vehicle exhausts,”

Perhaps the 2nd best example I’ve seen in a long-time of throwing something at a wall, and hoping some of it sticks. The best being Javed’s comment above; well done sir, never before has someone so entirely misunderstood the most basic of information.
Anjo on July 11, 2010 10:42 am

i tried taking the metro yesterday from khalid bin waleed to GGICO garhoud station , in all it cost me dh.10(min fare) fm zabeel road to bur juman (instead of a 20min walk in the heat – cudnt figure out which bus goes where) in taxi, 25mins on the metro including the wait time for the train, and another 10 mins walk fm garhoud station to my destination near 4×4 motors. Total cost – dhs.10+2 =12dhs; total time – 5min(taxi)+25min(metro)+10mins walk=40mins.

Again in the evening i chose to go by cab to the same place – fm Zabeel road to Garhoud – Dhs.15 , total time including taxi wait time – 20 mins.

So i wonder – for shorter distances with taxi fare being minimum dhs 10 and a lot quicker , why would i take the metro .. i want to.. but for a saving of dh.3 or 4 vs saving of 20mins or so is it worth the effort?

If the minimum taxi fare is reduced to 5 or 6 , then it adds value.