More delays for the Dubai Metro?

The proposed Red Line

The Dubai Metro was the largest infrastructure project the emirate had seen in more than a decade, but it has faced its fair share of problems with delays and pay rows, and they don't look to end any time soon...

It was announced this week that the remaining stations of Dubai Metro's Red Line have been delayed by two months. Speaking to 7Days in Dubai, Abdul Majeed Al Khaja, CEO of the rail agency, said it had granted an extension for the contractors until April to complete the work.

The station had been due to open next month, however a pay dispute between the Dubai government and the Japanese consortium responsible for the system's construction has seen work delayed.

"Contractors have asked for an extension and we have given them until April to complete the work," Khaja said, not specifying if all stations would be delayed.

Payment problems

The construction of the Metro has already cost the emirate nearly $5.3 billion, but since construction began costs have almost doubled. As such, payments became delayed and the government ending up owing over $3 billion to the consortium, considering of the Obayashi Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corp, Kajima Corp and Turkish company Yapi Merkezi.

In a bid to speed up payments, the groups stated that work on the remaining unopened stations would be slowed as a deliberate negotiating manoeuvre in payment talks with the government's transport authority, however work was at no point completely suspended.

Dubai's metro network opened in September in a bid to cut the emirate's dependency on cars and ease congestion. It was the first city in the Middle East to introduce rail as a commuting option.

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