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Firms submit Dubai Metro Gold Line bids

10 June 2025

 

Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority has received bids from consultants for Dubai Metro’s Gold Line.

US-based Aecom submitted the lowest-priced offer at AED628m ($171m) for the five stages of the consultancy work available on the project.

Aecom’s price is about 18% lower than the second-lowest-priced offer of AED765m, which was submitted by UK-based Mott MacDonald.

The other offers are AED843m from US-based Parsons and AED1.16bn from Canada’s AtkinsRealis.

Lebanon’s Dar Al-Handasah submitted an offer of AED105m, which is understood to cover part of the consultancy work.

Stage one covers the concept design; stage two the preliminary design; and stage three the preparation of tender documents. Stage four encompasses construction supervision, and stage five covers the defects and liability period.

The Gold Line will start at Al-Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai. It will run parallel to – and alleviate pressure on – the existing Red Line, before heading inland to Business Bay, Meydan, Global Village and residential developments in Dubailand.

Blue Line

Dubai is also progressing with another metro project. A day earlier on 9 June, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, attended the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Dubai Metro Blue Line.

The contract to build and supply equipment for the Blue Line was awarded in December last year. The RTA awarded a AED20.5bn main contract to a consortium of Turkiye’s Limak Holding; Mapa Group, also of Turkiye; and the Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

The Blue Line consists of 14 stations, including three interchange stations at Al-Jaddaf, Al-Rashidiya and International City 1, as well as an iconic station in Dubai Creek Harbour. By 2040, daily ridership on the Blue Line is projected to reach 320,000 passengers. It marks the first Dubai Metro line to cross Dubai Creek on a 1,300-metre-long viaduct.

At the foundation stone ceremony, Sheikh Mohammed approved the design of the Emaar Properties Station at Dubai Creek Harbour, which will be the highest metro station in the world, standing at 74 metres. It has been designed by US architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).

Upon the completion of the Blue Line, Dubai's total railway network will extend from 101 kilometres to 131km. This includes 120km for the Dubai Metro and 11km for Dubai Tram. The number of metro and tram stations will increase from 64 to 78, encompassing 67 stations for the Dubai Metro and 11 stations for the Dubai Tram.

Additionally, the fleet will expand from 140 to 168 trains, including 157 for the Dubai Metro and 11 for the Dubai Tram.

READ MORE: UAE accelerates its $60bn transport push

 

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Gulf accelerates AI and data centre strategy; Baghdad keeps up project spending, but fiscal clouds gather; Banking stocks rise despite lower global oil prices

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Colin Foreman

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