Dubai Metro Cost A Quarter of the Philippine’s 2009 National Budget

Road and Transport Authority (RTA) chief Mattar Al Tayer announced yesterday the new construction cost of the ongoing Dubai Metro project which soared by 80 percent from the original Dh15.5 billion to Dh28 billion ($7.6 billion). The new cost is equivalent to one fourth or a quarter of the 2009 Philippine National Budget of P1.4 trillion ($29 billion) that was signed by President Gloria macapagal-Arroyo on March 12, 2009.

The authorities attributed the increase in expenditure to the major changes in the scope and design of the project including the 5 additional stations and 6.9 km extension of the Green Line. RTA also expects to generate Dh18 billion in income over the next 10 years although the Metro was not designed as a profit-making enterprise since the fares would be subsidized.

The Dubai Metro is a driverless, fully automated metro network and currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Consisting of the Red Line which will be launched officially on 9th of September 2009 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE, and the Green Line which is expected to complete by June 2010, the Dubai Metro will become the second longest fully automated rail system in the world and the first of its kind in the Middle East.

Manufactured by Japanese firm Kinki Sharyo, the 87 five-car trains were designed to carry 643 seated and standing passengers. Every trains will have three classes of accommodation – the Golden Class (VIP), Women and Children class, and regular Silver Class (economy). In March last year, the RTA offered about 23 of its 47 stations for corporate branding as part of its major public-private partnership initiative where the minimum price for naming a station starts from Dh6 million per year and Dh60 million for 10-years. Only 10 of the 23 stations on offer for naming rights have been awarded to private companies so far.

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