Dubai Metro has carried more than two billion passengers since its launch

The train network covers 89km and connects 53 stations

The view from inside a driverless metro train in Dubai. AFP

More than two billion passengers have used the Dubai Metro since its launch on September 9, 2009.

The metro's red line transported 1.34 billion commuters while the green line served more than 673 million, Dubai Media Office said on Sunday.

It also said the metro has maintained a punctuality rate of 99.7 per cent and the average daily numbers of passengers was more than 616,000 last year.

More than 621 million journeys were made on Dubai public transport in 2022 — an increase of 35 per cent from the previous year.

The surge came amid the emirate's population boom and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, with the return of major events and conferences.

Dubai's population surpassed 3.5 million in April 2022 and has grown by another 71,785 since then, according to the Dubai Statistics Centre's live population counter.

Expo 2020 Dubai — which concluded on March 31 last year — caused a spike in visitor numbers in its final months. Many of them will have used public transport to get to the world's fair site.

“Statistics reveal a consistent rise in Dubai Metro ridership since the start of the service in September 2009,” said Mattar Al Tayer, the RTA's director general and chairman.

“During the first four months after its inauguration, the metro served 6.089 million riders.

“By 2010, the number of riders surged from 38.089 million in 2010 to 69.007 million in 2011, the year the Green Line was inaugurated.

“By the end of 2017, the total number of metro users since its launch exceeded one billion.

“In 2022, the Dubai Metro set a new record and the highest since its launch by serving 225.142 million riders, a remarkable growth rate of nearly 49 per cent and since its inauguration through January of 2023 exceeded two billion.”

The metro consists of the Red and Green lines, which cover 89.3km and connect 53 stations served by a fleet of 129 trains.

How the Dubai Metro was built: in pictures