Metro Dubai Property Witnesses Sharp Increase

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Properties located close to Dubai Metro stations have witnessed a sharp increase in consumer traffic since the transit system opened a year ago.
Daniel Mathew, general manager of Rose Rayhaan by Rotana, a hotel located a few metres from the Dubai Financial Centre Metro station, noted that the Metro has become an attraction for hotel guests.

"The majority of them [the hotel guests] are not UAE residents and they need to use public transportation for their daily activities," he told Gulf News. "The Metro also takes them directly to the shopping centres, main attractions as well as the airport."

Indeed, Fouad Sharaf, vice president of Mall of the Emirates - a shopping complex which has a bridge that connects it directly to a Metro station - noted that it receives about ten per cent of its daily visitors through the Metro. He told the newspaper that this amounts to an average of 8,000 visitors on weekdays and 10,000 at weekends.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Dubai Metro, which celebrated its one-year anniversary has transported an impressive 30 million people since its launch.

 

The Dubai Metro turned one on the 9th September! Over the last year, more than 30 million people have hopped on the new network. Numbers for August averaged 3.3 million, marking a huge 183% increase from the 1.8 million passengers recorded in October last year.

 

Shopping malls close to the stations have also witnessed an increase in customer traffic since the opening of the network. “The impact has been very positive," said Fouad Sharaf, Vice President, Mall of the Emirates (MoE), who told local newspaper Gulf News, that around 10% of daily visitors to the MoE travel via the Metro. With weekday mall numbers totalling 70,000 to 80,000 visitors a day, rising to 100,000 at the weekends, that amounts to nearly 8,000 to 10,000 Metro commuters on a daily basis.

 

The Metro has also had a positive influence on the Dubai property market, with some tenants starting to consider the location of the Metro station when looking for a new place to live, as well as attracting foreigners looking for lucrative Dubai property investments. It certainly spells good news for The First Group’s two Hotel Apartment projects in Tecom. With Metro Central occupying prime position right beside the Dubai Internet City Metro stop, and Grand Central just a few minutes away, travel for future residents could not be more convenient!