Sheikh Hamdan approves changes to Dubai railway regulations

Roads and Transport Authority to lead all future development in the emirate

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, approved changes to regulations governing railways in Dubai. Wam

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, has approved amendments to regulations governing the development of railways in the emirate.

The new regulations mean Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority will lead all future building of railways in the emirate, including those developed by other entities.

The resolution gives the authority responsibility for planning, design and development of the network.

It says the authority is responsible for co-ordinating with the relevant authorities in Dubai and neighbouring emirates on the integration of railway and other transport systems.

The authority is also allowed to enter into contracts and agreements related to railways and adopt policies, plans and programmes submitted to it by its Rail Agency and the Safety Regulatory Entity.

The Rail Agency will draw up policies, plans and programmes to develop and design the network, which will be approved by the authority's director-general.

Integrated network

Dubai currently operates two passenger rail networks – the driverless Dubai Metro and the Dubai Tram.

The UAE is also developing a national rail service, Etihad Rail, which in time will offer passenger services that will connect Al Sila in Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra to Fujairah.

The network will connect 11 cities in the UAE, allowing passenger to travel between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in about 50 minutes, and make the trip from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah in about 100 minutes.

The launch date for Etihad Rail's passenger service has not been announced but the first passenger station is being built in Fujairah.

It is planned for the service to carry more than 36 million passengers annually by 2030.

The national rail operator already announced that the railway will be integrated with existing public transport such as buses and the metro. Park-and-ride facilities are also planned.

Etihad Rail recently shared a video of its network in Dubai and detailed the scale of the infrastructure behind the project.

The video featured Al Qudra Bridge, the longest along the main line of the network stretching for more than 611 metres, and Expo Bridge, which is about 319 metres.

They are two of the 11 that make up the network in Dubai.

The video also showed the 5.5 million square metre cargo terminal at Dubai Industrial City.

Etihad Rail's freight network, which is fully operational, consists of a fleet of 38 locomotives and more than 1,000 wagons.

It connects four major ports and seven logistics centres across the country.