Dubai set for new tram network in 2013

The first stages of Dubai's brand new Al Sufouh Tram network will be completed by the end of the year.Leaders at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) have confirmed that the first carriage - which is being manufactured in France - will arrive in the emirate in December 2013. The organisation also stated that the engineering section of the project is around 30 per cent complete.Workers have been busy laying the track along a 14.6km stretch of Al Sufouh Road, while a 10.6km route that runs from Dubai Marina to the Police Academy is also being installed.It is hoped the new trams will encourage more people to leave their cars at home and utilise public transport instead.Each tram will be 44 metres in length and will be able to accommodate 300 passengers at a time. Around 3,500 people are expected to use the tram per hour in each direction during the first stage of the development and this will rise to 5,200 once the second phase is in full operation.There will be 17 tram stations in total, 11 of which will open as part of the first phase.During a tour of the route, RTA chiefs revealed that the overall project is more than half finished and around 25 per cent of the stations are already complete. All being well, the entire network should be open to the public by the fourth quarter of 2014.This is just one example of how Dubai's transport infrastructure continues to improve.The Metro system is also undergoing major works, as the Khaleej Times recently revealed that the current Red and Green lines are being extended and brand new Blue, Gold and Purple routes will be added too.Figures have shown that Dubai's population is growing every year, so it is vitally important that the city's public transport networks are big enough to accommodate these extra people.The fact that all of Dubai's main districts are interconnected makes the emirate increasingly attractive to investors all over the world.