Dubai Tram launches officially

Commuters in Dubai are to enjoy yet another modern transportation means, as the Dubai Tram service was officially launched on Tuesday.
The Dubai Tram network consists of 17 passenger stations and a fleet of 11 trams in the initial phase. Fourteen trams will be added in Phase II to make a total of 25 operating trams, according to the UAE's official WAM news agency.
Expected to transport about 27,000 passengers per day at the start of operations in 2014, the Tram service also has the potential of increasing the number of passengers to 66,000 per day by 2020.
Each tram has seven coaches, including a gold suite and one cabin dedicated to women and children. The idea is to connect the prime locations within the city, as it will connect big residential, commercial and tourism projects such as Dubai Marina, Media City, Internet City, Knowledge Village and a number of luxury hotels.
Dubai Tram is also the world's first tramway to use platform screen doors in passenger stations that are fully aligned with the tram's doors opening and shutting mechanism, providing maximum convenience, safety and security for passengers, and at the same time protecting the quality of the air-conditioning in the interior of both stations and carriages from external climatic conditions, according to the agency.
Even while fixing the tram service hours, the plans are geared towards meeting the needs of the public and responding to their daily transit patterns, particularly as the tram serves densely-populated areas, offering commuter service from and to places of work, besides serving tourist attractions in the Emirate, thus appealing to a whole host of community segments.
French firm Alstom was the major contributor in designing the USD-1.25 billion project.