New bus routes for Dubai Media City and Expo area from New Year's Day

Two loop routes will provide better connections with nearby metro stations

Commuters will pass through a row of smart gates when entering the new metro stations which will connect passengers to the Expo 2020 Dubai site. Wam

A look inside the Expo 2020 station. Wam

The Roads and Transport Authority says once open to commuters, Jumeirah Golf Estates station will be the largest on the Dubai Metro network. Wam

40 retail outlets and five sales kiosks will be spread across all seven stations. Wam

A view of the new Discovery Gardens metro station in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Seven new stations along the Route 2020 line boast a fresh, streamline interior and will be able to accommodate up to 125,000 riders a day by 2021. Pawan Singh / The National

Fifty trains will serve passengers across the new 15km line which includes both overground and underground stations. Pawan Singh / The National

Workers attend to the exterior of one of the stations during the under construction phase. It took 80 million hours to complete the work on the new Dubai Metro line. Pawan Singh / The National

Two new bus routes will be introduced in Dubai this weekend to give commuters better access to the city's metro network.

The service on F45 runs from Al Furjan Metro Station – part of the Route 2020 extension to the train network – to Discovery Gardens and Al Furjan every 20 minutes during peak hours.

It will serve a number of new residential developments that have come up near the seven new stations that were built to serve the Expo, which begins in October 2021.

The F56 will connect Dubai Internet City Station to the universities at Knowledge Park and loop around Media City and American University Dubai.

The buses will stop at the cluster of broadcast buildings at Media City Amphitheatre and then connect passengers to the Dubai Tram line on Al Sufouh Street.

Both services begin on New Year's Day – the same day that new stations open on the extended line.

Jebel Ali, The Gardens, Discovery Gardens and Al Furjan stations will open on Friday morning, serving large residential communities currently accessible only by bus or private car.

The remaining three stations – Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai Investments Park and the terminus at 2020 Expo – will open later next year.

An estimated 270,000 people live in these areas.

“The new routes are an important addition to Route 2020 of the Dubai Metro, which makes mobility through public transport in the emirate the ideal choice for residents, visitors and tourists coming to Dubai from all over the world,” said Adel Shakeri, director of planning at the Roads and Transport Authority.

The officials also announced the discontinuation of two existing routes from New Year's Day – Route 85, from Dubai Internet City Metro Station to Discovery Gardens and Route F42 from Ibn Battuta Metro Station to Discovery Gardens.

How the original metro was built - in pictures