Metro Joy!

Adore!

There’s been much excitement in Dubai this month as the long awaited Metro Green Line opened.  Not only is this a huge achievement – the thing was barely out of the ground when I arrived three years ago – it also means that many of the older (and in my opinion most fabulous places in Dubai) are now easy to get to.  No traffic or parking woes.  I jumped the Metro home from the Marina at the weekend and was reminded just how fabulous it is. 

This being Dubai, it’s beautifully clean and efficient and when you add in the fact that it’s elevated from the road, this means you have a fabulous view of the city as you glide by.  There’s something very magical about a Dubai sunset, a rosy glow over the villas of Jumeirah and the Burj Al Arab swathed in gold.  I’m giddy as a goat to try out the line and go exploring….humidity, please end soon!

I Fought the Law and....

I went to an interesting ‘Law of Attraction’ event with a friend last night. I’m a big believer in the whole concept, but I have to say, actually going to an event like this isn’t really my cup of tea. Give me a book on the subject that I can leaf through on the sofa/sun-lounger with wine, and I’m happier. Still, I went along with an open mind, and it was good just to catch up with my good friend on the journey there (on the METRO!!! Super exciting!!)


The event itself was disappointing, quite aside from there being too many ‘happy clappers’ there for my liking, the woman doing the talking was very confusing, kept contradicting herself, and over-using the word ‘awesome’. I think I counted 20 of them in a half hour speech. No need.

Anyway, we scuttled off for food and vino at half-time, cunningly avoiding the ‘networking’ session where everyone was supposed to ‘share’ their experiences. If the questions from the first half were anything to go by this would have been an interesting session – not. One woman asked the same question no less than three times. The urge to shout out ‘listen and understand, are you deaf!!??’ was strong.

The homeward trip (again, via Metro) was scuppered when we got to the station only to be told that it had stopped running. The last train leaves the MOE station at 10.22 pm. 10.22 pm??? I wasn’t planning on staying out too late on a school night (it was about 10.35 when we made it there) but come on Dubai. Do you really expect people to take a system seriously when it stops running at search an early hour? And especially in a country where families don’t even leave the house to go to the mall until 10 pm?!

Instead we queued for twenty minutes for the obligatory ‘drive like a maniac who has never heard of a speed limit’ taxi journey home. Dubai Metro, please extend your opening times!

Finally....My Metro Review!

So, it finally happened: I rode the Dubai Metro!!!!! Yes, two months after it opened I got to see what all the fuss was about (well, what all my fuss was about anyway!) Why so long? Well here’s the thing – not all of the metro stations are open yet and they’re not massively convenient to my home or workplace. If I was going t make a trip I’d have to get a taxi to the nearest station and again at the other end. So I haven’t got round to it.

Yesterday the scene on leaving the airshow was nothing short of carnage. They’d clearly tried to sort some shuttle buses, but as they were all gridlocked outside, with no clear signage, it was going to be a complete gamble as to a) whether you would actually move in the next 24 hours b) your destination would be anywhere near where you were trying to get to.

The taxi queue resembled a refugee camp with frazzled suits – it was literally about 100 metres long. So that was quickly ruled out as an option.

So I and an intrepid colleague decided that the only option left was…the metro. This being Dubai the nearest station was a good 15 minute walk away, and involved walking on a 4 lane highway (we laugh in the face of pavements/sidewalks here!) grass verges (with sprinklers on – not a treat!) sandy trenches and gravel. It really was an adventure – and that was before we’d even arrived at the station.

So what’s it like? Here are my general observations:

Overall – it’s pretty sparkly. And as the Manchester metro is my last frame of reference it does look super-clean, super-slick. But then it is brand-spanking new.
The stations look a bit like airports – busy, bustling, well-lit, with coffee shops and cafes. Nice.
Why the need for the muzak in the carriages? It’s bad enough having to endure this in lifts/when on hold etc – no need in the metro, IMO.
It was packed! And not just with fellow airshow escapees, although there were a fair few of those. Joe Public has really embraced the metro, it seems.
It’s cheap – 90p for a 20 minute journey. I’m sure the equivalent in Manchester (Victoria to Bury) would be triple or quadruple that….
People are still excited to use it, as demonstrated by the fact that I wasn’t the only one taking photos of the journey!

Some people who clearly use the metro regularly have embraced the whole commuter attitude/stance – rushing to get off the train, leaning forward and exiting at high-speed. I’m sure if I had to use it every day I’d be the same but for me it was welcome respite from the grid-locked roads below (the Dubai metro is elevated above the highways) and just an overall interesting experience.

Oh and as I had hoped: you can neb right into people’s apartments. Brilliant. Not sure when I’ll be using it next, but for now, thanks metro!

Metro Fever!

It's official! The metro has opened! I make NO APOLOGY WHATSOEVER about the excited, nay, hysterical nature of this blog post. It's a monumental event, people!

So, as you'll probably know unless you've been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, last night was the launch of the Dubai metro. It set off on its inaugural journey at 9.09 pm on 09.09.09 - see what they did there?!

I was actually at an iftar with friends, and in between stuffing my face, chatting, drinking tea and playing cards (which for the record, I am terrible at - was I always that bad at card games? I digress...) we watched the live tv feed. Terrible in terms of professionalism, but a fascinating spectacle. Sheikh Mo was, of course, the star guest, and the pandemonium which follows him wherever he goes is so bizarre to watch.

The worst bits: terrible camera angles, translators, hour long speeches, a video which appeared to have been shot in the sixties...no lighting on the track so that you couldn't actually see the train leaving the station...

The best bits: Sheikh Mo having to buy a ticket to get on (no fare dodging mate!) and getting his glasses out of his dish dash, his lovely navy blue dish dash, his ticket being presented to him on a silver platter, views of the Dubai skyline from an overhead chopper, the stations - which look a-mazing.

Generally just the huge hoop-la and fuss was great to watch. Can't imagine HRH rocking up to Manchester and causing the same fuss when a new bitof Metrolink opens....

Today it's open to the public and we're now hotly debating when when when we can get on it. Full report to follow, natch.

Countdown

The new metro opens soon. On 9th September (09.09.09 – see what they did there?!). Call me old-fashioned, call me a complete geek (and people are calling me that, believe me) but I can’t wait to get on it. So much so that I actually texted my details through to the Roads and Transport Authority (a bit like our Department of Transport in the UK) to be in with a chance of winning a ticket on the first day it opens! I KNOW!!
I’m not sure if in some way it’s making me think of the trams at home – I’m sure that they won’t be anything like them: for a start, no hoodies, imbeciles, or teenagers openly drinking White Lightening, but I miss public transport so much. I’ll keep you posted!

It Looks Like a...Cockroach?

The new Dubai metro system continues apace, with the driverless trains being tested every so often on the track next to my office. This causes much excitement for me, less so for my colleagues. It will be really interesting to se how it operates when it opens and how the people of Dubai (who love their cars) react to it. It has a start date of 09-09-09 (see what they did there) and they have certainly thrown it up at speed in the stretches that I see every day. There was, quite literally, nothing there when I first arrived, then giant 'struts' appeared, then the track was laid. Incredible really. Anyway, the collective verdict on these state-of-the-art stations on which no expense has been spared? They look like.....giant cockroaches. Ah well.

An Interesting Way to Travel....

Now this would definitely get me using the Tube each day!