Glitch in Dubai Metro causes delay

dubai — Residents who took the Dubai Metro after the Eid break on Wednesday morning experienced a 45-minute delay on the Red Line towards Jebel Ali. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) later in the day confirmed that a technical glitch hit the Red Line.

“The RTA regrets the inconvenience caused to Dubai metro users this morning due to a technical issue, with one of the trains disrupted for 45minutes,” said Mohammed Almudhareb, director of rail operations, RTA.

Meanwhile, social media channels were flooded with complaints from the commuters. They also complained that some Metro feeder buses were overcrowded. Khaleej Times went to the Metro stations and learnt that the technical glitch was fixed before 10am and the Red Line service was restored.

Separately, the RTA said that 2.9million people relied on public transport during the Eid holidays. Nasir Hamad bu Shehab, CEO of RTA strategy and corporate governance sector, said: “The Dubai Metro carried 1.5 million riders while number of Dubai Tram passengers stood at 55,889. Around 1.15 million used public buses and 181,214 used marine services.”

He added that the RTA charted out a comprehensive plan for managing public transport movement in certain areas like Dubai Mall-Burj Khalifa Downtown. “The plan was developed to ensure a smooth mobility of people during Eid.”