Here is what a Dubai-Sharjah metro link could mean
Study shows a metro line between Al Qiyada station and Sharjah City Centre could reduce traffic
congestion by 30%
Published: 21:01 January 27, 2018
Shafaat Shahbandari, Staff Reporter
Dubai: A metro link connecting Sharjah with Dubai’s Green Line could reduce traffic on the
congested highways between the emirates by more than 30 per cent, a new study has found.
Conducted by Aurecon, a Dubai-based international transport planning firm that works closely
with the local transport authorities, the study highlights the economic impact of congestions
between the two emirates and shows how a direct link between Al Qiyada metro station and
Sharjah City Centre could offset at least a third of the current traffic problems.
Gulf News got an exclusive access to the study that is most likely a first look into the possibility
of linking the two emirates with the metro.
The five corridors in total have a capacity of 33,200 vehicles per hour, but somehow through a
lot of squeezing around, 40,000 vehicles use the highways per peak hour, causing delays of up to
2 hours 40 minutes.”
- Nadeem Shakir, Technical Director at Aurecon
“There could be more than one ways of linking the two emirates through the metro and this is
one such hypothetical scenario of what could happen if a metro link is built between Dubai and
Sharjah,” said Nadeem Shakir, technical director at Aurecon, who headed the study.
The study found that currently, the five corridors between Dubai and Sharjah witness 900,000
vehicular trips daily, with 450,000 passing in each direction. The combined peak direction flow
on Ittihad Road, Damascas Street, Beirut Street, Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and Emirate Road
is 40,000 vehicles or 52,000 passengers per hour during the morning peak hours.
“The five corridors in total have a capacity of 33,200 vehicles per hour, but somehow through a
lot of squeezing around 40,000 vehicles use the highways per peak hour, causing delays of up to
two hour 40 minutes. We calculated the economic impact of the time and fuel lost during these
delays and found that Dh4.3 billion is lost per year,” said Shakir.
He added that an equivalent amount would be enough to build a 12km metro line per year.
Shakir observed that increasing the lane capacity between the emirates is neither possible nor it
will help ease congestion.
“The border lane capacity increase will not help since the inflow/outflow from and to the border
crossing is dictated by the road network on the either side of border. The road network on
Sharjah side is limited due to corridors and ROW constraints,” he said.
Metro connectivity
So the only possible solution, according to Shakir, to ease the congestion could be a metro link.
“We developed the hypothetical direct link of 7.5km between Al Qiyadah station and Sharjah
City Centre, with no stations in between. Such a project could be built at a cost of Dh3 billion,
almost 30 per cent less than the amount lost in traffi.
Here is what a Dubai-Sharjah metro link could meanStudy shows .pdf
1. Here is what a Dubai-Sharjah metro link could mean
Study shows a metro line between Al Qiyada station and Sharjah City Centre could reduce traffic
congestion by 30%
Published: 21:01 January 27, 2018
Shafaat Shahbandari, Staff Reporter
Dubai: A metro link connecting Sharjah with Dubai’s Green Line could reduce traffic on the
congested highways between the emirates by more than 30 per cent, a new study has found.
Conducted by Aurecon, a Dubai-based international transport planning firm that works closely
with the local transport authorities, the study highlights the economic impact of congestions
between the two emirates and shows how a direct link between Al Qiyada metro station and
Sharjah City Centre could offset at least a third of the current traffic problems.
Gulf News got an exclusive access to the study that is most likely a first look into the possibility
of linking the two emirates with the metro.
The five corridors in total have a capacity of 33,200 vehicles per hour, but somehow through a
lot of squeezing around, 40,000 vehicles use the highways per peak hour, causing delays of up to
2 hours 40 minutes.”
- Nadeem Shakir, Technical Director at Aurecon
“There could be more than one ways of linking the two emirates through the metro and this is
one such hypothetical scenario of what could happen if a metro link is built between Dubai and
Sharjah,” said Nadeem Shakir, technical director at Aurecon, who headed the study.
The study found that currently, the five corridors between Dubai and Sharjah witness 900,000
vehicular trips daily, with 450,000 passing in each direction. The combined peak direction flow
on Ittihad Road, Damascas Street, Beirut Street, Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and Emirate Road
is 40,000 vehicles or 52,000 passengers per hour during the morning peak hours.
“The five corridors in total have a capacity of 33,200 vehicles per hour, but somehow through a
lot of squeezing around 40,000 vehicles use the highways per peak hour, causing delays of up to
two hour 40 minutes. We calculated the economic impact of the time and fuel lost during these
delays and found that Dh4.3 billion is lost per year,” said Shakir.
He added that an equivalent amount would be enough to build a 12km metro line per year.
Shakir observed that increasing the lane capacity between the emirates is neither possible nor it
will help ease congestion.
2. “The border lane capacity increase will not help since the inflow/outflow from and to the border
crossing is dictated by the road network on the either side of border. The road network on
Sharjah side is limited due to corridors and ROW constraints,” he said.
Metro connectivity
So the only possible solution, according to Shakir, to ease the congestion could be a metro link.
“We developed the hypothetical direct link of 7.5km between Al Qiyadah station and Sharjah
City Centre, with no stations in between. Such a project could be built at a cost of Dh3 billion,
almost 30 per cent less than the amount lost in traffic congestion annually and this could help in
transporting around 16,000 passengers per peak hour out of the 52,000 passengers that currently
use private vehicles,” said Shakir.
The combined peak direction flow on Ittihad Road, Damascus Street, Beirut Street, Mohammad
Bin Zayed Road and Emirates Road is 40,000 vehicles or 52,000 passengers per hour during the
morning peak hours.
Using the demand-supply elasticity model, the study found that about 30 per cent of the private
vehicular demand plus some of the existing demand on the buses will divert to the metro system.
“The link will see a total boarding plus alighting at the Sharjah City Centre station of about
22,000 passengers/hour (both directions) during the peak hours. This is massive demand and it
will require a huge terminal area plus integration facilities to make it work, approximately twice
the size of Union Square Metro Station in Dubai,” added Shakir.
However, to support the passenger demand, the study showed that a train would be running at a
frequency of 2.5 minutes during peak hours.
But, Shakir cautioned that additional demand from Sharjah might put significant load on the
Dubai’s metro network, which are already running at their capacity during the peak hours.
No complete solution
And on the flip side, though the metro link might help in shortening the duration of the rush
hours, which are around two hours for morning and three hours for evening, but it will not
reduce the congested travel times during the peak hour.
“Any pure transport solution will not solve the traffic issues at the border, it requires wider urban
planning and policy intervention. Integrated planning approach by the authorities at the federal
level involving all the relevant stakeholders is required,” said Shakir.
Among the long-term solutions to the traffic woes, he suggested building of more affordable
housing in Dubai to spread the population and reduce the trip lengths on the road networks.
He also suggested sustainable city planning approach to encourage mixed-use development with
people living and working in the same locality.
4. congestion by 30%
Published: 21:01 January 27, 2018
Shafaat Shahbandari, Staff Reporter
Dubai: A metro link connecting Sharjah with Dubai’s Green Line could reduce traffic on the
congested highways between the emirates by more than 30 per cent, a new study has found.
Conducted by Aurecon, a Dubai-based international transport planning firm that works closely
with the local transport authorities, the study highlights the economic impact of congestions
between the two emirates and shows how a direct link between Al Qiyada metro station and
Sharjah City Centre could offset at least a third of the current traffic problems.
Gulf News got an exclusive access to the study that is most likely a first look into the possibility
of linking the two emirates with the metro.
The five corridors in total have a capacity of 33,200 vehicles per hour, but somehow through a
lot of squeezing around, 40,000 vehicles use the highways per peak hour, causing delays of up to
2 hours 40 minutes.”
- Nadeem Shakir, Technical Director at Aurecon
“There could be more than one ways of linking the two emirates through the metro and this is
one such hypothetical scenario of what could happen if a metro link is built between Dubai and
Sharjah,” said Nadeem Shakir, technical director at Aurecon, who headed the study.
The study found that currently, the five corridors between Dubai and Sharjah witness 900,000
vehicular trips daily, with 450,000 passing in each direction. The combined peak direction flow
on Ittihad Road, Damascas Street, Beirut Street, Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and Emirate Road
is 40,000 vehicles or 52,000 passengers per hour during the morning peak hours.
“The five corridors in total have a capacity of 33,200 vehicles per hour, but somehow through a
lot of squeezing around 40,000 vehicles use the highways per peak hour, causing delays of up to
two hour 40 minutes. We calculated the economic impact of the time and fuel lost during these
delays and found that Dh4.3 billion is lost per year,” said Shakir.
He added that an equivalent amount would be enough to build a 12km metro line per year.
Shakir observed that increasing the lane capacity between the emirates is neither possible nor it
will help ease congestion.
“The border lane capacity increase will not help since the inflow/outflow from and to the border
crossing is dictated by the road network on the either side of border. The road network on
Sharjah side is limited due to corridors and ROW constraints,” he said.
Metro connectivity
So the only possible solution, according to Shakir, to ease the congestion could be a metro link.
5. “We developed the hypothetical direct link of 7.5km between Al Qiyadah station and Sharjah
City Centre, with no stations in between. Such a project could be built at a cost of Dh3 billion,
almost 30 per cent less than the amount lost in traffic congestion annually and this could help in
transporting around 16,000 passengers per peak hour out of the 52,000 passengers that currently
use private vehicles,” said Shakir.
The combined peak direction flow on Ittihad Road, Damascus Street, Beirut Street, Mohammad
Bin Zayed Road and Emirates Road is 40,000 vehicles or 52,000 passengers per hour during the
morning peak hours.
Using the demand-supply elasticity model, the study found that about 30 per cent of the private
vehicular demand plus some of the existing demand on the buses will divert to the metro system.
“The link will see a total boarding plus alighting at the Sharjah City Centre station of about
22,000 passengers/hour (both directions) during the peak hours. This is massive demand and it
will require a huge terminal area plus integration facilities to make it work, approximately twice
the size of Union Square Metro Station in Dubai,” added Shakir.
However, to support the passenger demand, the study showed that a train would be running at a
frequency of 2.5 minutes during peak hours.
But, Shakir cautioned that additional demand from Sharjah might put significant load on the
Dubai’s metro network, which are already running at their capacity during the peak hours.
No complete solution
And on the flip side, though the metro link might help in shortening the duration of the rush
hours, which are around two hours for morning and three hours for evening, but it will not
reduce the congested travel times during the peak hour.
“Any pure transport solution will not solve the traffic issues at the border, it requires wider urban
planning and policy intervention. Integrated planning approach by the authorities at the federal
level involving all the relevant stakeholders is required,” said Shakir.
Among the long-term solutions to the traffic woes, he suggested building of more affordable
housing in Dubai to spread the population and reduce the trip lengths on the road networks.
He also suggested sustainable city planning approach to encourage mixed-use development with
people living and working in the same locality.
Sharjah Dubai traffic
A study conducted by Aurecon, a Dubai-based international transport planning firm, has looked
at the possible impact on a metro link between Sharjah and Dubai on the inter-emirate trafficc
situation. Here are the conclusions:
CURRENT SCENARIO
7. with the local transport authorities, the study highlights the economic impact of congestions
between the two emirates and shows how a direct link between Al Qiyada metro station and
Sharjah City Centre could offset at least a third of the current traffic problems.
Gulf News got an exclusive access to the study that is most likely a first look into the possibility
of linking the two emirates with the metro.
The five corridors in total have a capacity of 33,200 vehicles per hour, but somehow through a
lot of squeezing around, 40,000 vehicles use the highways per peak hour, causing delays of up to
2 hours 40 minutes.”
- Nadeem Shakir, Technical Director at Aurecon
“There could be more than one ways of linking the two emirates through the metro and this is
one such hypothetical scenario of what could happen if a metro link is built between Dubai and
Sharjah,” said Nadeem Shakir, technical director at Aurecon, who headed the study.
The study found that currently, the five corridors between Dubai and Sharjah witness 900,000
vehicular trips daily, with 450,000 passing in each direction. The combined peak direction flow
on Ittihad Road, Damascas Street, Beirut Street, Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and Emirate Road
is 40,000 vehicles or 52,000 passengers per hour during the morning peak hours.
“The five corridors in total have a capacity of 33,200 vehicles per hour, but somehow through a
lot of squeezing around 40,000 vehicles use the highways per peak hour, causing delays of up to
two hour 40 minutes. We calculated the economic impact of the time and fuel lost during these
delays and found that Dh4.3 billion is lost per year,” said Shakir.
He added that an equivalent amount would be enough to build a 12km metro line per year.
Shakir observed that increasing the lane capacity between the emirates is neither possible nor it
will help ease congestion.
“The border lane capacity increase will not help since the inflow/outflow from and to the border
crossing is dictated by the road network on the either side of border. The road network on
Sharjah side is limited due to corridors and ROW constraints,” he said.
Metro connectivity
So the only possible solution, according to Shakir, to ease the congestion could be a metro link.
“We developed the hypothetical direct link of 7.5km between Al Qiyadah station and Sharjah
City Centre, with no stations in between. Such a project could be built at a cost of Dh3 billion,
almost 30 per cent less than the amount lost in traffic congestion annually and this could help in
transporting around 16,000 passengers per peak hour out of the 52,000 passengers that currently
use private vehicles,” said Shakir.
The combined peak direction flow on Ittihad Road, Damascus Street, Beirut Street, Mohammad
8. Bin Zayed Road and Emirates Road is 40,000 vehicles or 52,000 passengers per hour during the
morning peak hours.
Using the demand-supply elasticity model, the study found that about 30 per cent of the private
vehicular demand plus some of the existing demand on the buses will divert to the metro system.
“The link will see a total boarding plus alighting at the Sharjah City Centre station of about
22,000 passengers/hour (both directions) during the peak hours. This is massive demand and it
will require a huge terminal area plus integration facilities to make it work, approximately twice
the size of Union Square Metro Station in Dubai,” added Shakir.
However, to support the passenger demand, the study showed that a train would be running at a
frequency of 2.5 minutes during peak hours.
But, Shakir cautioned that additional demand from Sharjah might put significant load on the
Dubai’s metro network, which are already running at their capacity during the peak hours.
No complete solution
And on the flip side, though the metro link might help in shortening the duration of the rush
hours, which are around two hours for morning and three hours for evening, but it will not
reduce the congested travel times during the peak hour.
“Any pure transport solution will not solve the traffic issues at the border, it requires wider urban
planning and policy intervention. Integrated planning approach by the authorities at the federal
level involving all the relevant stakeholders is required,” said Shakir.
Among the long-term solutions to the traffic woes, he suggested building of more affordable
housing in Dubai to spread the population and reduce the trip lengths on the road networks.
He also suggested sustainable city planning approach to encourage mixed-use development with
people living and working in the same locality.
Sharjah Dubai traffic
A study conducted by Aurecon, a Dubai-based international transport planning firm, has looked
at the possible impact on a metro link between Sharjah and Dubai on the inter-emirate trafficc
situation. Here are the conclusions:
CURRENT SCENARIO
• Daily 900,000 Vehicular trips(450,000 in each direction) between Sharjah and Dubai
• Peak direction flow is 40,000 vehicles (52,000 passenger trips) during the AM peak hour
CURRENT ROAD CAPACITY (from Sharjah to Dubai)
• 33,200 vehicles/hour across different corridors
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CONGESTION
• Economic losses due to peak period congestion – Dh4.3 Billion/Year
