1 Million Kilometers Travelled, 99.7% Punctuality Rate: Dubai Metro Achieves New Milestones

Sumi Thomas September 9, 2023

2 minutes read

Dubai Metro has completed over 1 million kilometres in travel distance, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has revealed as the public transport system completes 14 years of operation.

The urban rail service has also achieved a punctuality rate of 99.7 per cent, exceeding international safety benchmarks.

The metro has also logged more than 16.8 million hours of specialised maintenance work, covering carriages, rails and tunnel maintenance. Maintenance teams have covered 30,000 kilometres on foot during their inspection tours.

The RTA has used advanced technology and has employed specialized apps and systems to streamline maintenance activities, aligning with its ambitious paperless strategy and plans to raise efficiency.

These milestones reaffirm Dubai Metro’s commitment to setting global standards in urban transportation. Earlier this year, the RTA had revealed that ridership on both the red and green lines of the metro hit 123.4 million riders in the first half of 2023.

10,000 CCTV cameras, drones ensure safety

To ensure the safety on Dubai Metro, the network has over 10,000 CCTV cameras to oversee all train facilities. Throughout the year, maintenance is conducted on over 2,000 informational screens to guarantee peak performance, assisting passengers on all their journeys.

RTA also began using drones to examine and inspect Dubai Metro tunnels extending 14 km on both Red and Green Lines. This enables a precise and fast inspection of the condition of assets. They come equipped with multiple cameras, including a high-resolution one to monitor the condition of the tunnels.

Since its inception, overhauling teams have conducted the procedure of rail grinding for a combined length of 800 km using the world’s most sophisticated equipment. This automatically grinds rails to ensure optimal alignment between rails and train wheels and prevents breaking of rails, thus extending the lifespan of the train infrastructure.

Maintenance

Over the last 14 years, RTA strived to maintain the metro’s assets using cutting-edge technology. The authority conducts two categories of preventive maintenance — a light maintenance and an overhaul or comprehensive maintenance. The light maintenance is done every 14 days while the comprehensive one, which involves periodic inspections and overhauling of trains based on mileage, is performed for each train after every 750,000 km.

Each train undergoes a 15-day overhauling process. About 1 million manhours were devoted to maintain 79 trains and ensure their performance. A dedicated team of 70 employees conducts maintenance work around the clock. The Dubai Metro’s fleet boasts 129 trains, which includes 50 modern units and the initial batch of 79 trains, which recently underwent maintenance.

With Dubai Metro covering over 1 million kilometres so far, it is currently conducting its second overhaul maintenance. This process involves the inspection and refurbishment of all 14 train systems, including components like the metro carriage, brakes, train doors, and air conditioning systems.

State-of-the-art cameras and laser technology regularly scan rail sections and determine the most suitable maintenance system that guarantees smooth train operations.

In a bid to build local capacities, RTA has prioritised the training of Emirati engineering and technical talent in train maintenance. It recruits fresh engineering graduates and equips them with skills to operate railways, train systems, electrical systems, and Dubai Metro’s infrastructure.