The current journey by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, on an Etihad Rail service between Dubai and Fujairah represented one other step ahead for the UAE’s public transport infrastructure.
Providers on the nationwide rail community are set to start subsequent yr, however Etihad Rail has one other, probably extra thrilling, scheme within the works.
The 350kph electrical high-speed line between Dubai and Abu Dhabi was introduced in January. The high-speed rail service goals to chop journey instances between Abu Dhabi and Dubai to half-hour.
Whereas no launch date has been revealed, specialists imagine the undertaking might revolutionise the UAE’s financial system, its surroundings and the place its folks will reside. Six stations are to be constructed within the first section, together with Abu Dhabi’s islands, town airports and Dubai Creek.
Excessive-speed rail has had a chequered historical past in different components of the world, with some tasks struggling delays, price overruns and cutbacks, however analysts imagine the UAE is ideally positioned to roll out the know-how, with the geography, absence of planning bottlenecks and even local weather anticipated to maintain the undertaking on observe.
Dr Alexander Wray, a transport researcher at Western College in Canada, stated the scheme meets the primary prerequisite for profitable high-speed rail: connecting main inhabitants centres.
“From the UAE’s perspective, it’s a really perfect rail-building surroundings,” he defined. “It’s comparatively flat, comparatively steady floor, when you get beneath the sand, and it’s in a dependable climate surroundings. Sure, it’s scorching, however you’re not coping with the ice and corrosion that you simply usually would cope with in a number of the different climates of the world.”
He believes the character of the event that has already taken place within the space will make it simpler to put in high-speed rail. “The Abu Dhabi and Dubai area has been inhabited for millennia, however there’s not a lot city material between the 2 that you simply’re having to cope with, compared to a number of European cities the place there’s an historic preservation situation or advanced topography,” he stated.
“When you take a look at the motorway corridors within the UAE, they’re fairly vast to allow future infrastructure funding. They’re constructed after the American interstate mannequin of motorway corridors that provision ample area to journey between cities.”
Another high-speed rail tasks have confronted headwinds as a result of the pure or constructed surroundings is much less conducive to putting in an extended, straight railway line.
The UK’s struggles with HS2, initially as a consequence of run from London to Manchester and Leeds within the north of England, illustrate the issues.
Planning points and the heavy price of constructing tunnels and different options to scale back the environmental influence of the road have led to delays and price spirals to the extent that the undertaking has been in the reduction of and can now solely run between London and Birmingham. Prolonged consultations with affected residents have additionally induced delays.
There are high-speed rail companies in fewer than 30 international locations, simply over half of them in Europe, the place the networks in France, Germany, Italy and Spain are among the many most notable. Morocco has a high-speed line between Tangier and Casablanca, whereas Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Uzbekistan are among the many Asian nations with high-speed rail.
All these networks are dwarfed by China, which has greater than 45,000km of high-speed rail, in response to the Organisation for Analysis on China and Asia, and is continuous to develop.
Algeria, Egypt, India and Thailand are among the many different nations which might be creating high-speed rail tasks.
The Abu Dhabi–Dubai high-speed line won’t be the primary within the Gulf area.
Saudi Arabia opened its Haramain Excessive-Velocity Railway, which covers 450km between Makkah and Madinah, in 2018. Trains journey at speeds as much as 300kph and the journey time is about two-and-a-half hours.
Most of the promoting factors used to market that service will even apply to the Abu Dhabi–Dubai line: a shorter journey time, no heavy site visitors, a cool and comfy expertise, excessive security requirements and diminished carbon emissions in comparison with driving.
Whereas developing high-speed rail can have a big carbon footprint, notably as a result of giant quantities of concrete are used, as soon as constructed it’s thought of a extra environmentally-friendly approach of travelling.
There can be stations on the electrified Abu Dhabi–Dubai line at Jaddaf, near Dubai Creek; Al Maktoum Airport in Dubai; Zayed Airport; Saadiyat Island; Yas Island and Reem Island.
Prof Jon Shaw, a transport researcher on the College of Plymouth within the UK, believes the high-speed service “can be dependable and gained’t be topic to site visitors congestion”.
“When you can go from a gathering in Dubai to a gathering in Abu Dhabi and may try this in 35 minutes, you’ve got the 2 centres successfully functioning as one area,” he stated.
Excessive-speed rail means, he stated, “extra journeys per day and faster journeys”, though he cautioned that further stops on the road might compromise the pace goal.
Having a practice that’s extremely quick isn’t just about getting folks from one place to a different rapidly – it will also be about showcasing a nation’s prowess. This explains why, for instance, China has a maglev or magnetic levitation practice from a Shanghai airport to town able to greater than 400kph, and why Japan’s high-speed community is fabled for its excessive speeds and reliability.
“It turns into a supply of nationwide delight,” Dr Wray added. “I can see within the UAE this being nearly a advertising piece for tourism or for international enterprise and model recognition. It’s these issues that drive a number of the high-speed rail dialog.”
Dr Wray stated the road might spark additional international funding and confidence within the UAE, with extra workers capable of work in a single metropolis and reside within the different.
“That tends to breed company confidence,” he stated. “If we take a look at the Japanese instance of high-speed rail, it’s been a catalyst for brand spanking new growth. Within the part north of Tokyo, communities have popped up. They’re nearly like high-speed rail suburbs.”
At all times use solely regulated platforms
Cease all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all proof (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report back to native authorities
Warn others to forestall additional hurt
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Energy: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Value: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
Brown rice: devour an quantity that matches within the palm of your hand
Non-starchy greens, reminiscent of broccoli: devour uncooked or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat
Oatmeal: look out for pure entire oat grains or kernels, that are regionally grown and packaged; keep away from people who have travelled from afar
Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no extra, and by no means fruit juices
Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these nicely and cook dinner them at a low temperature; chorus from consuming extremely processed pasta variants
Courtesy Roma Megchiani, useful nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique
I am going again instantly by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm lodge opens on the finish of this yr, one of many highlights can be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which guarantees “to take friends on a journey again to Sixties Italy”. It’s the three Michelinstarred chef’s first enterprise in Dubai and must be each bit as formidable as you’d anticipate from the person whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was topped primary on this yr’s listing of the World’s 50 Greatest Eating places.
Akira Again Dubai
One other thrilling opening on the W Dubai – The Palm lodge is South Korean chef Akira Again’s new restaurant, which can proceed to showcase a number of the best Asian meals on the planet. Again, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, gained a Michelin star final yr, describes his menu as, “an revolutionary Japanese delicacies ready with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The extremely experimental chef, whose dishes are as a lot about spectacle as style, opens his first restaurant in Dubai subsequent yr. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will characteristic modern twists on recipes that date again to the 1300s, together with goats’ milk cheesecake. At all times keep in mind with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is sort of because it appears.
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The Seashore Bum
Director: Concord Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
Identify: THDRSTARD: 2019Co-founders: Ahmad Hamgouda and Seif Amrsectors: Fintecherquarters: Egyptuae Base: Hub7
The Florida Mission
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
4 stars
