Dubai Metro routes split after technical issue

DUBAI // Technical problems on the Red Line have caused the Metro to be operated in two loops, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has said.

Service has been divided into one route going from Rashidiya, the last stop on the line, to Airport Terminal 1 and the other from the airport to the Jebel Ali terminus. Announcements on trains and flyers at stations warned commuters about the disruption.

“The problem is being sorted out,” said Peyman Younes Parham, the RTA marketing and communications director. “We are operating two loops until then. The problem started after peak hour traffic so it did not affect people getting in to work in the morning.”

Mr Parham did not say when the issue would be resolved. Reports of the malfunction did not reach commuters such as Yevette Som, who said she wished Metro authorities had broadcast the news more widely.

“I waited for ages at the airport terminal for the train to Rashidiya,” she said. “I could have easily taken a taxi and saved time if I had heard it on the radio before leaving home.”