When I first travel to a place there are a myriad topics in my mind that I could write about. It is difficult to choose and sometimes it leads to a writer’s block of a sort. I have decided to start off writing about my recent short trip to the Middle East with the very interesting Dubai Metro Line.

I have been to Kuala Lumpur. They have a pretty good metro line, but there are some interesting differences in the Dubai Line.

Ambiance n Design

Generally these metro stations fully AC, automated ticket systems, escalators and voice elevators are pretty good for an Indian! The Dubai ones however were unexpectedly extravagant! A lot of the metro stations were better than Indian five star hotels in terms of ambiance!

Khalid Bin Al Waleed Metro Line Junction

They could make it simple plain tiles etc.. but instead it very well designed!

So it was very cool to all of a sudden step out into a brilliantly well designed platform! It would be good for people’s morale I am sure!

Station Names

This was another interesting fact and it makes transport a lot easier for a tourist. Consider that a tourist wishes to go to the Dubai Mall – the largest mall in the world by metro. So generally he would have to find out which station he needs to go to and then go to the mall from that station. In Dubai the station itself is called Dubai Mall!

All station names are names of the famous buildings there! Some of the names are Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifa, Mall of Emirates, Financial Center, Deira City Center etc… this makes it a lot simpler for a tourist. These names can actually be very confusing because they are often in the native language, so Dubai seems to have brought in this subtle difference that is a big aid to tourists.

When you think about it we could easily merge the landmark n area names and make them the same. Good sense! 🙂

Train Lines

This can often be a major confusion. I remember in Kuala Lumpur there were like some 3 or 4 different lines and I had just given up on them! Dubai goes ahead and simplifies it admirably!

Red Line. Green Line. (Blue Line, Purple Line are yet to come). All the maps show these different lines in the respective contrasting colors and it is a lot simpler to grasp. It probably also helps Dubai’s huge expat population out by making them feel in a more neutral, not-a-strange-culture place.

Pride in various aspects of the City

Its a very simple layout so far. I wonder where the Blue and Purple Lines will be...

So easy station names and train lines overall using the Dubai Metro is very simple. The design and ambiance makes it very refreshing too!

Accessibility

They have the usual braille marking in elevator buttons and clear directions. Pregnant women and disabled people have special seats and also a separate small compartment. I don’t know whether there are any more special stuff for people with disabilities because they tend to be subtle and I may not notice!

Braille Markings on elevator buttons

Overall good experience. Even when there is a lot of rush its all quite relaxed. You can stand, get down, get in the train without much trouble. People with prams or any special needs are very often given way and seat by people.

Flipside: Seats

Often a trip in the metro just keeps you standing for the 30 – 45 mins. Most stations don’t have seats so we need to stand on the station for the train. The wait is usually less than 5 mins. Inside the train seats are very few, non – peak hours is not a problem but during peak hours we just have to stand the whole way. So especially after having roamed in the mall the whole day one just wants to sit!