Monorail proves a hit with tourists

Eugene Harnan

• Last Updated: May 12. 2009 5:05PM UAE / May 12. 2009 1:05PM GMT

DUBAI // The Palm Monorail appears to be proving more popular with tourists looking for a fun ride than with Palm Jumeirah residents needing it for transport.

Robert Lee, the managing director of RetailCorp, part of Nakheel Retail, says there are more passengers on the line at the weekend than during the week. As a result weekend staffing numbers have been increased.

He said the 5.4km line’s public acceptance was an issue that Nakheel, its developer, had faced since it was announced. “There have been many discussions in the media and in private dinners about who is going to use it, how are they going to use it and what is the actual application. And you know the truth? We don’t really know.

“What’s happening in the Palm Jumeirah Monorail is that it is turning out to be a great tourist attraction. At the beginning we had hoped it would be a great multi-modal transit system. The timing and the circumstance that are beyond us has basically changed the model plans,” he said during the MENA rail 2009 conference in Festival City.

The monorail, which opened on April 30, has only two of its four stops open: the Gateway Towers at the base of the Palm Jumeirah and at the Atlantis Hotel on the crest of the development. The Trump Tower station is not open nor is the Village Centre as both developments are on hold. A return trip costs Dh25 and a single fare is Dh15.

The total number of passengers who have used the new line since its first day is not available. “Our actual (weekend) ridership is more than what we had planned for the manning guard. On weekdays it is lower. It is used mostly as a tourist ride than a transport solution.

“If it was a true transport solution, the weekday ridership would be higher than the weekend and what we have is just the opposite,“ added Mr Lee.

“Over the next three years the multi-modal transit system may not work. We are working with the RTA [Roads and Transport Authority] on the Al Sufouh Trams system so there is full connectivity with the metro.”

The current goal for the monorail’s developer once the Al Sufouh tramway is completed in 2011 is to allow tourists to travel by rail from the airport to the Palm Jumeirah’s hotels.

“The element of what we have built is secondary. Now it is how we can actually make sure it gets the public acceptance and usage. And that’s the battle we have to go through,” added Mr Lee.

The developer is determined to stick to its original plan, however.

“It is not a tourist ride, it is a public transport system. We have built all the safety issues and regulatory elements as if it’s a full-blown rail system,” he said.

British Rail and the RTA inspected the system before launch. Yesterday the RTA issued safety certificates to Nakheel and SMRT Engineering Middle East, the monorail’s operator.

Plans were also discussed to extend the monorail to the Nakheel Station on the red metro line, but those proposals are on hold.




eharnan@thenational.ae