A groundbreaking ceremony has been held in Dubai to mark the official start of construction on the 30km Blue Line project, the emirate’s third metro.

Dubai’s ruler and vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, laid the foundation stone at the future Emaar Properties station on June 9.

A consortium led by Mapa Group of Turkey, that also includes fellow Turkish company Limak Holding and CRRC, secured a Dirhams 20.5bn ($US 4.88bn) contract to design, build and equip the line in December. Mapa and Limak will be responsible for civil works, while CRRC will supply rail systems and a fleet of 28 driverless trains.

The Y-shaped Blue Line includes a 21km section with 10 stations that RTA says will run from Al Khor on the Green Line to Dubai Academic City, via International City 1. At this station there will be an interchange with a 9km branch with four stations running to Centrepoint on the Red Line. The Blue Line will include 15.5km of underground and 14.5km of elevated alignment, serving five underground and nine elevated stations. A new rolling stock depot will be built at Al Ruwaiyah 3.

The new line will have capacity for 46,000 passengers per hour per direction. Trains will operate at approximately 2-minute intervals with the Blue Line expected to carry 200,000 passengers a day by 2030, rising to 320,000 passengers a day by 2040. The line is scheduled to open on September 9 2029, the 20th anniversary of the first metro line in Dubai entering service.

World’s tallest metro station

With a 74m-tall structure at its centrepiece, Emaar Properties is being dubbed the world’s tallest metro station. US architectural practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is responsible for the design, with the portal-like structure intended to resemble a gateway. It will incorporate a glass roof to enable natural light to enter the building as well as a combination of stone and metal construction materials. The three-level station will have capacity 160,000 passengers per day and is expected to serve 70,000 daily by 2040.

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