The ride to a greener future

Will cars always remain king in the Gulf or will commuters in Bahrain and its neighbours one day fall in love with trains, trams and buses, as environmentalists and planners hope?

Dubai has already made the first faltering step forward with a metro system with mixed results, reporter Ali Khalil takes a look at the system that wants to take passengers for a ride into a greener future.

Dubai Metro may have altered the commuting scene in this car-loving city but a year after the first train left the station, winning over the hard-core motorists remains an uphill struggle.

Despite the severe financial crisis however, the rail authority is determined to complete its second line, which has been delayed for more than a year.

Since September 9, 2009, when the network opened, the number of daily trips has reached 120,000, for more than 30 million riders, says Mattar Al Tayyer, CEO of the Road and Transport Authority.

Passenger numbers are expected to hit 40 million in 2010, Tayyer said, with the opening of the remaining stations on the Red Line, the first of two lines to enter service in the city of around two million people.

But motorists in the Gulf are strongly attached to their car seats. A survey published recently by Regus, a workplace solutions provider, showed that 91 per cent of working people preferred private transport, with 79 per cent using their cars to commute and 12 per cent taking taxis.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi have modern bus networks, and the latter has plans underway to develop its own metro. Bahrain's bus services are not as popular, although many parents use bus and coach companies to ferry their children to and from school.

A modern public transport service - including trams and trains - has been on the drawing board for Bahrain for several years but even Dubai, which has raced ahead with its Metro solution, still struggles to convince commuters of its benefits.

"The car saves time and effort," said Muatassem Al Qudat, a Jordanian teacher who has been living in Dubai for nine years and does not use the metro. He complained of the stifling heat which makes walking to and from stations an unpleasant experience.

Many residents have echoed similar complaints about the route of the Dubai Metro, a great part of which runs above the artery of Sheikh Zayed Road along an elevated track.

To meet this objection, the RTA created a network of shuttle buses connecting passengers from residential and work areas with the main train line.

"I have only used the train once, just to check it out," said Emirati oil engineer Mohammed Ali who lives in the northern emirate of Ajman - a commuting distance from Dubai.

He still would not bother to park and ride the train when visiting Dubai. "Roads are now wider and traffic is less congested," he argued. "The car is faster."

The Metro has some fans, however. After work on one day last week, passengers clearly crowded the platforms at several stations on the Red Line. "Using the train is better than being on the road, to avoid traffic jams," said Vijay, a 36-year-old Indian who works in customer service at a driving school.

Vijay has been using the train for three months, since he got his new job in the upmarket Mall of the Emirates shopping centre. He said: "It takes me only half an hour to get to work." Egyptian Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed, 25, agreed that the train was a great option. "It is comfortable and fast. No traffic congestion," he said, sitting in a spotless carriage, where eating, drinking and even chewing gum are banned.

In a bid to lure motorists to park and ride, RTA built free multi-storey parking areas at some stations. But few appear to have taken up the offer. "Only the ground floor is open," said a security guard at the Nakheel Harbour and Tower station car park. While it had a capacity for 3,000 vehicles, less than 150 cars were left there during a weekday, he said.

The cost of the metro had already doubled to $7.6 billion by the time the Red Line was opened. Meanwhile, a Japanese-led consortium working on the remainder of the network has reportedly slowed down work due to delayed payment, a matter categorically denied by RTA in January.

Only 21 out of 29 stations on the 52-kilometre Red Line have been opened. The remaining eight are scheduled to open next month, but RTA is reportedly considering keeping some closed as the severe impact of the global financial crisis put nearby urban developments on hold.

The construction of the second 23km Green Line has gone slower as well. It is now expected to open next August after it was originally scheduled to open this spring.

Roads are certainly better than a few years ago across the region and signs of massive investment are evident in Bahrain, with Sitra and Isa Town currently prime examples of the work in hand.

But the region has begun to take railway seriously as an important mode of transport, with rail schemes valued at $94.5 billion, out of transportation projects worth $170 billion, according to Middle East analysts.

These include a GCC rail link of 2,117km running from Oman to Kuwait through the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. But most of the transport projects are still in the design phase.