I managed to make a couple of videos on my Metro journey. Unfortunately, A minute after actually getting on the darned thing my camera battery ran out. And then I got too lazy to capture the rest of it with my phone. But it’s still about 7 minutes long.
Friday morning, 11 September 2009. Mall of the Emirates Station. I was there with the missus and my daughter at about noon. We found out that the station won’t open until 2pm. So we waited. And waited. By 2, around 500 people had gathered there. Gates actually opened around 2:30, half an hour late, but it’s okay. I gotta give that leeway ‘cos it’s new. Then this:
Finally, 20 minutes later, we got off at BurJuman. I thought maybe we could hang out there for a while, then take the train back to MOE, since our car was parked there. That wasn’t to be. The BurJuman Station (actually it’s called Khalid Bin Waleed Station), having the good fortune of being located in one of the busiest areas of Dubai had roughly around 2000 people parade here and there, waiting to take the joyride. People lining up at the ticket counter to buy the single-use, one way ticket, more people trying to queue up to tap in their Nol cards.
On any given journey, one card can be used for just one person. So if it’s 2 people traveling, get 2 cards. Trying to pass back your card after you’ve tapped, for your friend to tap it won’t work.
So that’s the basic low down. If you’re still confused about a lot of things, join the group. I’ve been asking questions and researching, and nothing helped. RTA website isn’t much help. And then, a friend gave me this month’s TimeOut Dubai Metro special issue. Get that now…. it’s a must read, because it answers all the questions you could possibly have, and clears up a lot of confusion.
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