The Dubai Tram has served about nine million commuters while achieving extremely high performance indicators with the on-time arrivals clocking 96.4 per cent during the first two years of is operation, a report said.

Its compliance with the published schedules went as high as 98.1per cent, Dubai Media Office reported on the occasion of the Tram’s second anniversary yesterday (November 11).

From the start of operations back in 2014, up to the end of October last the Tram has made about 176,000 journeys, covering 1.05 million kilometres.

The Dubai Tram is primarily aimed at improving mobility within Dubai city in general and in areas of tourist & economic importance served by the tram in particular. It has also added to the integrated mass transit systems in the Emirate, and provided a smooth & highly efficient transit mode within areas of business & tourist significance in Dubai city.

The Tram also supports the economy of the Emirate, and contributes to reducing carbon emissions, conserving the environment, and improving the living experience of residents.

Over the past two years, the RTA has undertaken a number of initiatives & procedures to improve the safety level and increase the ridership of the Tram. In coordination with the General HQ of Dubai Police, the RTA has taken additional preventive measures to enhance the traffic safety level at signalized junctions on the tramway at the JBR where the movement of the tram overlaps with the movement of pedestrians and vehicles.

It has removed the Bus Stop at the intersection and constructed a right-hand free lane at the junction. The RTA is monitoring the situation on daily basis to fix the journey time of the tram before introducing traffic solutions.

The same study will be commissioned to compare the situation before applying traffic solutions and afterwards when the traffic movement is back to normal. The RTA has also provided additional parking space near stations to encourage people to use the Tram.

The Dubai Tramway runs 11 km starting from the Marina and the JBR, passes through Dubai Media City, Knowledge Village and up to the Tram Depot near the Dubai Police Academy. The tram fleet comprises 11 trains shuttling between 11 stations based in activity and densely populated areas. – TradeArabia News Service