Expo 2020 visitors urged to take Dubai Metro

Authorities in Dubai have urged visitors heading to the Expo 2020 Dubai site to use the metro services.

Speaking exclusively to Dubai Eye's Business Breakfast show on Wednesday, a team from Expo 2020 Dubai urged the public to use the Metro service for added convenience and access to the "most beautiful entrance to EXPO".

Starting October 1, the Dubai Metro Expo 2020 Station will start operations.

The Red and Green Lines of Dubai Metro will offer passenger services from Saturday to Wednesday from 05:00 am to 01:15 am (of the following day). On Thursday, the service will run from 05:00 am to 02:15 am (of the following day), and on Friday from 08:00 am to 01:15 am (of the following day). The service frequency will be 2:38 minutes during peak times.

Meanwhile, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority has unveiled a detailed public transport plan to ferry visitors to the Expo site.

Expo Buses will operate from 06:30 am and continue service for 90 minutes after the closure of Expo Gates. Passenger commuting service from the parking area (Expo Parking Shuttle) to the three Expo Gates will start at 09:00 am and continue for 90 minutes after the closure of Expo Gates. Bus Service between Expo Gates (Expo People Mover) will start service at 06:30 am and continue service 90 minutes after the closure of Expo Gates. Taxi and e-hail services will be running around the clock. 

RTA will manage about 30,000 parking slots at the site of Expo distributed at several zones (Opportunity, Mobility, Sustainability, World, and Nissan Parking). 

It will use intelligent traffic signs and manage the parking by a smart system connected to the traffic monitoring centre to identify vacant slots. RTA has developed alternative plans to cope with the events in case the parking lots are full by using the intelligent traffic signs on external and internal roads to direct motorists to alternative parking. 

Stations and Buses
To facilitate the movement of Expo visitors from different emirates, RTA has allocated 203 buses: (Expo Bus) to serve visitors to Expo 2020 from 18 stations (9 stations in Dubai, and 9 stations in other emirates). Expo bus service will be free of charge in Dubai from nine stations and stops, in addition to two routes to transport visitors from hotels directly to the site of Expo. 

The 9 stations in Dubai are Palm Jumeirah, Al Baraha, Al Ghubaiba, Etisalat, Global Village, International City, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Mall and Dubai International Airport (Terminal 3). 

RTA will also provide two additional services: the EXPO Parking Shuttle service to transfer visitors from car parks to the three Expo Gates: (Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability) and the EXPO People Mover service to commute visitors between Expo Gates.

The stations outside Dubai are Abu Dhabi International Airport Station, Abu Dhabi Main Bus Station, Marina Mall Station, Al Ain Bus Station, Al Jubail Bus Station, Muwailih Station, Ras Al Khaimah Bus Station, Ajman Bus Station, and City Centre Fujairah. 

Taxis and Limos
RTA is deploying 15,000 taxis and limousines to serve the emirate and visitors to Expo 2020. They include 9,710 taxis and 5,681 limousines, which can be booked through the e-hail services of Uber and Careem. RTA added 10 vehicles to serve people of determination at the Expo 2020 site.

Metro Route 2020

Route 2020 has a capacity of 46,000 riders per hour in both directions (23,000 riders per hour per direction). 

The RTA’s studies anticipate the number of riders using Route 2020 to reach 125,000 riders per day by the end of 2021, and increase to 275,000 riders per day by 2030. 

Studies also reveal that Expo Station is expected to serve about 35,000 daily visitors of Expo during weekdays, and the number to increase to 47,000 daily visitors during weekends. 

This number accounts for 29 per cent of the total expected number of daily visitors to Expo.