Real estate railway up and running in Dubai
January 27, 2009 by Mark Pollak
Dubai’s real estate playground is a stunning sight at the best of times – whether marvelling at the skyline from sea, land or just Google Earth, the state is a patchwork of glittering property investment schemes, big and small.
One of the biggest builders in the local game is Nakheel, a company you will have at least heard of, unless you’ve been in a real estate news bunker deep below the seabed of the Arabian Gulf.
Responsible for man-made investment islands Palm Jumeirah and The World, the firm tends to make the otherwise impossible and ludicrous possible. Fittingly they have developed a new method of transport which could become a hit with investment specialists keen for a closer look – the ‘Palm Monorail’.
Looking very much like something from a Star Trek film, the Palm Monorail runs for 5.45km, between the ‘trunk’ of the stunning Palm Jumeirah to Atlantis Aquaventure, part of what is now one of the world’s most luxurious hotel developments.
This futuristic rail run will be first open to visitors in April of this year, and is the first system of its kind to be unveiled in the Middle East. It’s also fully automatic and can carry 2,400 passengers per hour in four separate trains rising to 6,000 in nine vehicles – so it’s also a shrewd transport investment, not just a toy.
‘Seamless journey’ through real estate marvels
Nakheel recently took officials from the Road Transport Authority (RTA) for a ride on the system. Abdulmajid Al Khaja, chief executive of the RTA also revealed: “When we connect the Palm Monorail to the Metro we will be able to offer passengers a seamless journey from Dubai International Airport to the hotels on Palm Jumeirah, using just one farecard.”
While real estate itself gets ever more spectacular in Dubai, ways of getting around it are also becoming more and more innovative – after all, what’s the point of building all that glamour if you can’t get to it?
http://www.nakheel.com/en/news/nakheel-rta-monorail-first-official-trip
Having been to Dubai a few times you realise that the roads are nose to tail all day and night so the thought of being able to jump on a train from the airport directly to your hotel would be great. It does look like the one they had at Merry Hills shopping centre though