• 11 hours ago
All aboard Dubai Metro first morning train. Gulf News reporter Anjana Sankar joins morning commuters as they take their maiden voyage on Dubai Metro's first morning train and enjoy a traffic free ride through the city. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
Transcript
00:00This is indeed a good morning for these hundreds of people who are on board the first train
00:24that has left Al Rashidiyah metro station from platform number 1. It's 6.20 and today
00:32these people go to work without fearing the horrendous traffic jams. I don't know how
00:37long it will take to reach the end destination which is Nakhil Harbour station but who cares
00:44if the journey is as enjoyable as this. At least I'm not seeing endless rows of cars
00:49in front of me. I look to my right and to my left. I have breathtaking views of Dubai
00:55like never before. One interesting aspect of riding in a metro is this unique mix of
01:07people that you get to see. From working class to executives and from students to housewives,
01:12there are people from all walks of life. Something that you get to see in Dubai, maybe only in
01:18shopping malls. I don't own a car. I'm handicapped in terms of my mobility. But yes, the ride
01:26this morning was exciting because of the novelty factor indeed. My ability to move around will
01:32increase and it's a very comfortable ride. It's good, fantastic. It's fantastic, absolutely
01:38fab. It's way better than I would have expected. It's the best in the world. I've been on trains
01:43in Australia, America, UK. It's fantastic. It's really good. It's beautiful, beautiful. I don't
01:50believe that everything in Dubai. So, we want to know. Excited to be on metro. The first few
01:57metros. So, all the best. I hope things work out. More stations come in and we kind of get
02:03off our cars and drive more in metro. The train is Wi-Fi enabled so that you can use laptops
02:11throughout the journey. And some of the passenger friendly features include a screen which will
02:16show the upcoming stations. And there is also an onboard announcement which tells you which station
02:22is approaching. At the door, there is a map which shows the red and green lines with different
02:28stations. All these features help to make the journey very comfortable and hassle-free for the
02:34passengers. My first impression, metro is definitely on the right track. RTA has delivered
02:46what they promised, a world-class rail network. But the big question now is, how willing the
02:53Dubai public will be to step out of their private cars and make metro a new way of life. Anjana
03:00Shankar, Gulf News.
03:04For more information visit www.gulfnews.com