Travel and Tourism - Travel to dubai

Oh, Dubai. Sometimes we wish you success, because you’re so funny. Other times we can’t wait till you run out of oil and just turn back into a desert wasteland, because you’re so gross.

Of late, the Gulf city-state has been trending somewhere between those two courses. They’ve shut down all kinds of massive half-baked construction projects, but are pushing ahead on a select few. Most notable in the “pushing ahead” category are the world’s tallest building and the city’s new metro system (exempted on the “half-baked” count). The powers that be in Dubai have been planning a grand simultaneous unveiling of the two in September, in fact — seeing it as a perfect opportunity to get massive amounts of media attention and declare to the world, “We’re still actin’ all rich!”

Sadly, there’s a hitch. Construction on the Burj Dubai, the 206-story luxury residential and office tower–space will supposedly go for $3,500/square foot and up–is running behind schedule, and will not be complete by September. So the metro–which features a “Gold class” section for “VIPs”–will debut alone and therefor won’t get anywhere close to as much media attention.

It turns out that Dubaites (?) are pretty upset about it. Nearly half “believe the delay to the Burj Dubai is a missed opportunity to put Dubai back on the global map.” An additional 17 percent are sad because Dubai now looks like the kind of slacker place that can’t keep to a schedule when building white elephant projects.

To celebrate the synergy that might have been though, here are some fact boxes and photos of the $4 billion, 2,600-foot aluminum stalagmite and the $4 billion, 22-mile first phase of the new metro system.

Dubai Metro

Fast facts:

“In full operation, Dubai Metro is projected to carry approximately 1.2 million passengers on an average day, and 355 million passengers per year”
“Trains will be WiFi enabled”
“The 32.5 mile Red Line [which will open in September] will have 29 stations, four of which will be underground”
“Rolling stock is being supplied by Kinki Sharyo under a $456.2m contract for 385 cars”
“All stations will have platform doors to increase safety and allow a more comfortable, climate controlled environment”
“The driverless, fully automated trains are fully air-conditioned”
“The trains will offer standard ‘Silver’ class, a women and children only section plus a first class ‘Gold’ section for VIPs”
The “Gold” car will be located at front of each train and will be just for men (specifically, non-poor men). The “Silver” cars for the ladies and the rugrats and the downtrodden will follow behind.
Gold cars will feature wide leather seats, an explansive view through the train’s front window, and an “exclusive lighting design.”

Photos:

Transit construction, Dubai-style:

Like Paris, Dubai’s Metro stations will have platform doors:

.Inside a “Silver” car (i.e. for pleebs, women and children):

Inside an exclusive “Gold” car (just us rich dudes!):

A train on a viaduct:

The rolling stock (fancy talk for “train cars”) arrives from Japan:

A design rendering of a station hub:

.That station in real life:

.A rendering of a smaller station:

.A system map. Service to the crazy man-made archipelagos is still on the drawing board:

Burj Dubai tower:

Fast facts:

“The foundation is made up of 192 concrete and steel pilings more than 164 feet (50 meters) deep. They are joined by a 12-foot-thick raft upon which the skyscraper rests.”
“45,000 cubic meters of concrete was used in the foundation.”
Underground parking spaces: 16,000
“The air conditioning chillers installed on the 155th and 159th floor are so high that their design had to take into account the thinner air at that elevation.”
In 2006, 2,500 construction workers rioted because of low pay and poor treatment. They did an estimated $1 million damage.
The tower is designed Adrian Smith of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
“The interior will be decorated by Giorgio Armani. An Armani Hotel, the first of four by Armani, will occupy the lower 37 floors”
“In keeping with Islamic custom, the hotel pool will have separate hours for women and men at the pool.”

Photos:

Scale: Those little buildings on either side are all really, really big