RTA launches 2 bus routes; one to feed metro stations, a third line modified

RTA launches 2 bus routes; one to feed metro stations, a third line modified

Roads and Transport Authority – Nashwan Atta’ee:

The Public Transport Agency, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has launched two public bus routes; one of them is designated to serve metro stations, and a third line is rerouted today on March 1^st in order to satisfy the rising demand for this service by public transport users in Dubai Emirate.

The Director of Planning and Business Development, RTA Public Transport Agency Essa Al Hashemi, said: “The launch of the first two routes in 2014 comes as a quick response to the need of mass transit network users and in keeping with the growing economy of the Dubai Emirate as part of the rapid developments seen by the UAE in all fields.

The first of the two routes is F29; which is a metro feeder route that starts from the Mall of the Emirates Metro Station and heads towards the Media Production Zone via the Motor City Autodrome & the Dubai Sports City; passing across several key destinations such Lulu Supermarket at Al Barsha, Dubai American Academy, Avenue Design, Service Staffs Clinic at Al Quoz, Motor City Spinneys, Motor City Dubai Autodrome, and the Dubai Investment Park. It also passes along a number of stops inside Dubai Sports City including the Head Office of the International Cricket Council, Victory Heights East Gate, Dubai Cricket Stadium, Golf Tower, and Victory Heights West Gate.

“The other is Route 367; which starts off Etisalat Metro Station and heads towards the International City via Mirdif City Center passing through a number of communities including Al Muhaisna Intersection 1, Islamic Learning & Training School at Al Mizher, Al Muhaisna 1B, Algiers Street, Dubai Modern School at Al Muhaisna, Mirdif Private School at Mirdif, Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque, Mirdif City Center, Mirdif Gate Central, Al Manama Street 4, and the Civil Defence at the International City,” continued Al Hashimi.

“To further improve the service in one of the existing routes, we have modified the path of Route 29 from Al Ghubaiba Bus Station up to the Business Bay Metro Station via Al Fahidi Metro Station, Burjuman Metro Station, Al Karama Metro Station, Al Jafliya Metro Station (seaside), Dubai World Trade Center Hotel, Dubai Mall, Radisson Blue Hotel at Dubai Downtown, Burj View Central Tower, Southern Side Tower, Qamar Uddin and East Height Towers at G Gate of the Business Bay,” he added.

The Director of Planning and Business Development at Public Transport Agency reiterated the keenness of the RTA to broaden and improve the public transport network to keep pace with the ongoing urban and demographic expansion seen by the Emirate of Dubai. Public bus routes are considered one of the strategic initiatives and key pillars of raising the percentage of journeys made by public transport network through enticing more community members to use public transit modes in their daily travels; which will have positive repercussions on the traffic movement and the cleanliness of the environment as the increase in the number of public transport users will reduce snarls, boost traffic safety level, and greatly diminish the amount of environmental pollution caused by the massive number of vehicles in the Emirate.

‘MAG Group will invest up to AED 15 billion in Dubai by 2020’ says Chairman

‘MAG Group will invest up to AED 15 billion in Dubai by 2020’ says Chairman

Addressing stakeholders in Dubai, MAG Group Chairman Moafaq Al Gaddah outlines company’s 2020 investment plans across residential, hospitality, commercial, industrial and service sectors

Moafaq Al Gaddah, Chairman of MAG Group , Dubai-based multinational, unveiled his own vision of how the conglomerate was investing up to AED 15 billion in the future of Dubai and the wider UAE, especially in the build-up to Expo 2020 at a corporate event recently.

“Dubai has always been an attractive investment proposition for local, regional and international investors. Now that the city has won the right to host Expo 2020 it has galvanised investment sentiment and I am sure that we are not the only company feeling the current wave of overwhelming business optimism,” said Moafaq Al Gaddah, Chairman, MAG Group.

MAG Group has already announced and has projects under implementation, worth AED 5 billion, including the AED 2 billion multi-phase project, located in the Meydan district, comprising 106 townhouses and a residential community spread across 29 five-storey apartment buildings, a AED 750 million residential project in Sharjah, the AEDc700 million Art Centre in Barsha, the 865 million City of Arabia residential project, the AED 500 million MAG residential tower in the Burj Khalifah area, the AED 100 million MAG Logistics plant in Jebel Ali and the AED 180 million MAG 226 residential tower in Jumeirah Village.

Moafaq Al Gaddah went on to comment, “We are studying to buy land for additional projects which could be worth up to AED 10 billion in Dubailand, Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi, which will be announced in the coming months.”

Moafaq Al Gaddah’s comments were made at a MAG Group corporate annual function, which was attended by over 240 management and staff as well as other key stakeholders. Other 2013 highlights at the glittering event included the announcement of MAG Trading’s annual turnover of more than AED 800 million, and a market presence in more than 90 countries and a forecast for further expansion in 2014. MAG Royal Solutions also created a Guinness World Record in 2013 for the largest automated parking facility in the world, at a cost of AED 80 million and situated in Emirates Financial Towers, DIFC.

“There may well be cynics out there who look at Dubai’s development and wonder what all the fuss is about. For those of us who have been living and working in Dubai for the past fifteen years, or thirty six in my case, this is nothing short of miraculous.

“What Dubai has achieved is the result of careful planning, hard work and more importantly the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, where they made a model of the city of Dubai model,” concluded Al Gaddah.

About the MAG Group

The Dubai-based Moafaq Al Gaddah Group of Companies (MAG Group) was established in 1978 and has grown into a multinational organisation with 18 offices in eight countries throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Al Jadaf, Creek metro stations to open next Saturday

Al Jadaf, Creek metro stations to open next Saturday

Roads & Transport Authority – Mohammed Al Munji:

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) will open on the Saturday March 1^st Al Jadaf and Creek stations; the terminal two stations on the Green Line of the Dubai Metro. By operating these two final stations, the RTA will be completing the operation of all the Dubai Metro stations.

H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, said: “Al Jadaf and Creek stations; which are located at the end of the Green Line track, serve existing projects and others under construction such as the Culture Village and Sama Al Jadaf, and they will also serve the Dubai Festival City through operating a marine transit service linking with the Creek Station. Al Wasl Club will also be linked with Al Jadaf Station through a bus route to be operated when matches are held. The RTA has provided 100 parking slots at Al Jadaf Station, besides providing a bus route to serve passengers of the two stations.

“Operating these two stations will contribute significantly to expediting the development tempo in the neighbourhood, and accordingly the ridership will pick up gradually as per the foreseeable inputs. The daily ridership of Al Jadaf Station is forecasted as 2100 riders per day, whereas the Creek Station is expected to be used by about 1400 riders every day. However, these numbers are poised to double up exponentially with the opening of property development projects, some of which are nearing completion,” added Al Tayer.

“Through the Dubai Metro operator Serco Co., the RTA has completed all arrangements related to the operation of the two stations by carrying out technical test runs of the metro including testing the communication systems, automatic operation systems, power feed system, and the air-conditioning system among others. It has also finalized the appointment of 16 employees to man the two metro stations and they have already been deployed at site after undergoing intense training exposures on delivering customers service, implementing regulations drawn up by the RTA to protect the facilities, and enforcing the rules against offenders,” said the Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA in a final remark.

Coordination has also been made with the Transport Security Dep’t to deploy security personnel at the two stations to ensure the security and safety of the metro riders. Moreover, teams of Emergency Services (Civil Defence, Ambulance and Rescue) made field visits to the two stations to know more about them and the surroundings.

It is worth-mentioning that Al Jadaf and Creek stations are amongst the elevated metro stations where the concourse and platform are on the upper level of the elevated metro track. Each station extends 132 meters in length and 29 meters in width, and has a capacity to handle 11,000 passengers per hour per direction. The two stations are fitted with escalators as well as lifts.

Caption:

-      Mattar Al Tayer

-      The stations are ready for receiving passengers

RTA awards AED104m contract to construct internal roads at Muhaisna 2

RTA awards AED104m contract to construct internal roads at Muhaisna 2

Roads & Transport Authority – Mohammed Al Munji:

The Board of Directors of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), chaired by H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, approved the awarding of a contract for constructing Muhaisna 2 Internal Roads Construction Project at a cost of AED104 million. The project is part of the five-year plan (2012 – 2016) endorsed by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for paving internal roads in a number of residential communities in Dubai Emirate costing about one billion dirham in total.

“Undertaking Muhaisna 2 Internal Roads Construction Project stems from RTA’s commitment to improve roads network to address the requirements of demographic and urban expansion in the Emirate in keeping with RTA’s vision of providing safe and smooth transport for all,” said Al Tayer. “The project comprises constructing roads extending 31 km, repaving existing roads in the area, carrying out improvements of Amman Street, converting some roundabouts into signalized junctions, and erecting fence on the median of Algiers Street as well as designating crossing points for pedestrians in order to improve the traffic movement and road safety. The project also includes providing new parking slots for vehicles and buses all over the area in addition to street lighting works & storm water drainage network. Construction works in the project will start as early as this month and continue for 450 days,” explained Al Tayer.

“The 5-Year Plan for Constructing Internal Roads in Dubai Emirate (2012 – 2016) spans about 16 districts where urbanization rates range from 20 to 80% but might be as low as 5% in some areas. The initial Phase of the plan, which cost about Dhs150m, covered five residential communities namely: Hatta community, Al Qusais 3, Al Qouz 2, 3 and 4. Phase II, which started in 2013 costing about 140 million dirham, covered three residential districts namely: Al Muhaisna 2 and Al Barsha South 1 and 2. Phase III, which starts this year, covers Al Mamzar, Al Nahda 1, and Oud Mateena 2 costing about 130 million dirham. Phase IV, which will be kicked off in 2015, will cover the construction of roads in 3 districts costing about 140 million dirham at Nad El Sheba 4, Oud Mateena 1 and Al Khawaneej 2. In Phase V, which will start in 2016, road construction works to the tune of 250 million dirham will be undertaken in 3 districts namely: Jebel Ali Industrial, Al Qusais Industrial 3, 4 and 5 in addition to Al Awir 1.

Captions:

-      Mattar Al Tayer

-      Layout of roads construction at Al Muhaisna 2