RTA - Dubai Metro: Blue Line

General Information
Owner Dubai Roads & Transport Authority
Masterplan Project (Parent Profile) RTA Dubai – Dubai Metro Line Development – Dubai
Location Dubai, Emirate of Dubai, UAE
Status --
Sector Transport, Infrastructure, Railway
Contract Type Design Build (DB)
Onshore/Offshore Onshore
Greenfield/Brownfield Greenfield
Progress 0
Estimated Budget Value ---
Contract Value 0
Net Value $6000m
Award Date January 2025
Completion Date December 2028
Last Updated On November 2024
ProjectId (Old, New) 4409, 284630


Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is planning to undertake the Blue Line as a part of the Dubai Metro Extension project in Dubai, the UAE.

The design and build contractor will be responsible for all civil works, electromechanical works, rolling stock and rail systems. The contractor will assist in maintenance and operations for an initial three-year period after the project is completed.

The Blue line will connect the existing Red and Green lines.

Project no.: 081

The US$6,000 million project includes the following:

1. Construction of a 30km line from the existing Creek Station to Academic City (15.5 below ground and 14.5 above ground) and also includes a branch line from the existing Centrepoint (Rashidiya) Station to International City

2. Construction of 12 stations:

a. 4 elevated stations

b. 4 underground stations

c. 2 elevated interchanges connecting to existing stations

d. 1 underground interchange

e. 1 iconic elevated station

3. Construction of a new depot to accommodate up to 60 trains

4. Associated road works

5. Utility diversion works

6. Construction of viaducts, tunnels, stations

7. Installation of mechanical and electrical equipment, signaling systems, and safety and security systems.

Second Section

10 November 2024

The following group of companies have submitted the revised bids for main contract tender: 1. the lowest-priced base offer by a team of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, Arab Contractors, Binladin Contracting Group and CAF (US$6 billion), 2. the second-lowest base offer by a team of Limak Holding, Mapa Group, Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) (US$6.1 billion), 3. the third-lowest base offer by a team of Larsen & Toubro, Powerchina, Wade Adams and Hitachi (US$6.5 billion), 4. The fourth-placed base offer was from FCC, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and Alstom (US$6.5 billion). (Source: MEED)

07 November 2024

Firms are preparing to submit revised bids for the main contract on November 7, 2024. (Source: MEED)

09 October 2024

The following group of companies have submitted the bids for main contract tender: 1. the lowest-priced base offer by a team of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, Arab Contractors, Binladin Contracting Group and CAF (US$6 billion), 2. the second-lowest base offer by a team of Limak Holding, Mapa Group, Hong Kong office of China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) (US$6.47 billion), 3. the third-lowest base offer by a team of FCC, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and Alstom (US$6.56 billion), 4. the fourth-lowest base offer by a team of Larsen & Toubro, Powerchina, Wade Adams and Hitachi (US$7.34 billion), 5. the highest-priced base offer by a team of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), Hyundai Rotem and Siemens (US$11.16 billion). The following group of companies have submitted the alternative offers: 1. a team of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, Arab Contractors, Binladin Contracting Group and CAF (US$6.50 billion, US$6.85 billion, US$5.85 billion), 2. a team of Limak, Mapa and CRRC (US$6.39 billion, US$6.50 billion), and 3. a team of Larsen & Toubro, Powerchina, Wade Adams and Hitachi group (US$6.80 billion). (Source: MEED)

18 July 2024

The main contract bid submission has been extended again from July 19, 2024 to October 07, 2024. (Source: MEED)

11 June 2024

The reshuffled consortiums planning to bid for the project include: Hitachi/ Larsen & Toubro/ Powerchina/ Wade Adams (South Korea, India, China, UAE), China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, Limak Holding, Mapa Group (China/Turkiye/Turkiye), Alstom, FCC, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (France/Spain/China) and CAF, China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, Arab Contractors, Binladin Contracting Group (China/China/Egypt/UAE), Hyundai Rotem Co, China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, and Siemens AG. (Source: MEED)

27 May 2024

The main contract bid submission has been extended from May 19, 2024 to July 19, 2024. (Source: MEED)

20 February 2024

Construction works on the project are expected to commence by the end of 2024.

28 January 2024

The main contract bid submission is due on May 19, 2024. (Source: MEED)

17 January 2024

The main contract tender was issued on January 15, 2024. The client has pre-qualified the following six consortiums to bid for the design-build contract: Hyundai Rotem/China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation/Nippon, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation/Limak Holding/Mapa Group, Siemens, Samsung/Larsen & Toubro/Wade Adams, Alstom/FCC/China State Construction Engineering Corporation, CAF/China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group/Arab Contractors, and Hitachi/WeBuild. (Source: MEED)

05 January 2024

The following companies have submitted Expression Of Interest (EOI) for the project: Siemens/Samsung C+T/Larsen & Toubro/Wade Adams, Alstom/FCC/China State Construction Engineering Corporation, China Harbor Engineering Company.

08 December 2023

The expression of interest (EoI) bid submission deadline has been extended from November 24, 2023 to December 24, 2023. (Source: MEED)

26 November 2023

The project has been approved by the higher authority for the development. The project is planned for operational by the year 2029. (Source: MEED)

09 November 2023

The following consortiums are being formed to submit bids for the project: Siemens/Samsung C+T/Larsen & Toubro/Wade Adams, Alstom/FCC/China State Construction Engineering Corporation and China Railway Construction Corporation/China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. (Source: MEED)

26 October 2023

The expression of interest (EoI) has been issued with a submission deadline of November 24, 2023. (Source: MEED)

01 May 2023

The client is expected to issue tender documents in the fourth quarter of 2023. (Source: MEED)

23 March 2023

Market sources indicate that the main contract tender is yet to be issued for the Green Line Extension (Greenfield) project and the Red Line Extension (Rashidiya to Mirdif City Centre) project.

09 December 2022

The main contract tender is yet to be issued for the Green Line Extension (Greenfield) project and the Red Line Extension (Rashidiya to Mirdif City Centre) project.

06 October 2022

The client is expected to issue tender documents in the second quarter of 2023. The following consortiums are being formed to submit bids for the project: Alstom/FCC/China State Construction Engineering Corporation; Siemens/Larsen & Toubro/Alec/Besix; and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC)/China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC). (Source: MEED)

16 May 2022

We have not been able to obtain further updates on this project. We have retained the same project stage and amended the key dates accordingly. We will update the profile as soon as we obtain any new information.

22 December 2021

The project has been put on hold.

20 September 2021

The project is facing is delay due to budgetary approvals and it is still under initial stage of development.

10 August 2021

There is no major development on the project.

22 June 2021

There is no major development on the project.

23 March 2021

There is no major development on the project.

23 December 2020

There is no major development on the project.

24 September 2020

We have not been able to obtain further updates on this project. We have retained the same project stage and amended the key dates accordingly. We will update the profile as soon as we obtain any new information.

13 July 2020

There is no major development on the project.

04 May 2020

There is no major development on the project.

05 January 2020

We have not been able to obtain further updates on this project. We have retained the same project stage and amended the key dates accordingly. We will update the profile as soon as we obtain any new information.

17 October 2019

We have not been able to obtain further updates on this project. We have retained the same project stage and amended the key dates accordingly. We will update the profile as soon as we obtain any new information.

29 July 2019

We have not been able to obtain further updates on this project. We have retained the same project stage and amended the key dates accordingly. We will update the profile as soon as we obtain any new information.

15 May 2019

We have not been able to obtain further updates on this project. We have retained the same project stage and amended the key dates accordingly. We will update the profile as soon as we obtain any new information.

26 November 2018

The project is still under its initial stages of development.

18 July 2018

The Dubai Metro master plan is expected to complete by Q4 2018. Once completed, it will serve as a guideline for the future timeline, development, tendering and implementation for all the phases under the this development.

18 April 2018

The Dubai Metro master plan is expected to complete by Q4 2018 which upon its completion will serve as a guideline for the future development, tendering and implementation, expected to be issued for all the rail packages.

16 January 2018

The Dubai Metro master plan is expected to complete by Q4 2018 which upon its completion will serve as a guideline for the future development, tendering and implementation, expected to be issued for all the rail packages.

13 December 2017

The Dubai Metro master plan is expected to complete by Mid 2018 and upon its completion the tenders are expected to be issued for all future metro packages.

14 September 2017

The Dubai Metro plans would be completed by Mid 2018 after which they will have a plan on the tender issue for all future metro packages.

14 June 2017

The project is still under its initial stages of development.

21 March 2017

The project is still under its initial stages of development. .

21 December 2016

Atkins has been awarded the consultancy contract for the rail master-plan of the project.

05 October 2016

The client has opened commercial bids of the consultants for the update of the masterplan of the project. (Source MEED)

28 July 2016

The client has received bids from the following consultants to update rail masterplan: *Aecom *Arup *Atkins *Richmond Management Consultancy (RMC) *Mott MacDonald *Parsons *Systra *WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff (Source MEED)

26 May 2016

The client has invited following nine firms to bid by early July 2016 for the study to update the emirate’s rail masterplan. *Aecom *Arup *Atkins *Aurecon *Richmond Management Consultancy (RMC) *Mott MacDonald *Parsons *Systra *WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff (Source MEED)

19 April 2016

The client is preparing to issue requests for proposals to update the emirate’s transit study. The duration of the contract is 9 months. The study will look at updating and modifying the proposed future metro lines and other public transport networks. (Source MEED)

24 February 2016

The project is still in initial planning phase.

25 November 2015

The project is still at its initial planning stage.

17 August 2015

The project is at its initial planning stage.

18 May 2015

Currently, the project is at its initial planning stage. Design works are expected to commence in 2016.

03 March 2015

Currently, the project is at its initial planning stage. Design works are expected to commence in 2016.

29 December 2014

The project is still under its initial planning stages.Tenders for the design consultant is not been issued. It will be announced by the client at a future date.

28 August 2014

The project is under its initial planning stages.

16 December 2013

Industry sources indicate that the project quoted that the project is still in its initial study and planning stage and the plans to go ahead with the project would only be considered and decided by next year 2014.

19 August 2013

A company active on the project quoted that the project is still in its initial study and planning stage and the plans to go ahead with the project would only be considered and decided by next year 2014.

24 April 2013

Industry sources indicate that the project has been revived back and will be completed by 2020.

30 January 2013

Industry sources indicate that the $1000m project is still on hold. Time frame for revival of the project is not finalized yet.

21 November 2012

Industry sources indicate that the $1000m project is still on hold. Time frame for revival of the project is not finalized yet.

23 July 2012

Industry sources indicate that the $1000m project is still on hold. The timeframe for revival is expected by Q4 2012.

22 May 2012

Industry sources indicate that the $1000m project is still on hold. The timeframe for revival is expected by Q4 2012.

07 February 2012

The $1000m project had been placed on hold in Q4 2009 during following its design completion due to financial crisis which has affected business globally. The project is likely to be revived only after the completion of the Al Maktoum International Airport.

06 May 2011

The $1000m project had been placed on hold in Q4 2009 during its planning stage due to financial issues. Dubai RTA is yet to take a decision on whether to revive the project after five to seven years or cancel it. (04/05/2011)

07 February 2011

The $1000m project had been placed on hold in Q4 2009 during its planning stage due to financial issues. The project is likely to be revived after two years. (03/02/2011)

19 January 2011

Industry sources indicate that the $1000m project is put on hold since Q2 2010 during its planning stage due to current financial crisis that has affected the market globally. So far the time frame for the revival of the project is yet not finalised. (19/01/2011)

24 November 2009

The project is in its initial stage. While the Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is asking contractors to find their own funding for some of the Emirate's largest transport projects. Reasons being, RTA has struggled to meet its financial obligations for the past six months. The client has allowed contractors to borrow funds from export credit agencies or banks while the alternative would be to fund the work from their own cash balances. (23/11/2009)

13 October 2008

Industry sources indicate that Dubai RTA is likely to extend the blue line by an approximate of 20km to link the Jebel Ali Airport to the Dubai Waterfront region.

27 August 2006

Design work is ongoing. (19/08/06)

20 July 2006

*Blue line (47 km) *Elevated track stations *Buried track stations *Surface track stations *Associated facilities

21 May 2006

The Dubai government plans to construct a light rail network in the emirate. Phase I will run through Dubai, linking up with Sharjah. The network will be split into two lines; The first one called "Red Line" will start at the Sharjah border and run up to Jebel Ali Port. The second, Green Line, will stretch from Dubai International Airport to Business Bay, going through Khalid bin Al Waleed Road. The Blue Line forms part of Phase II. The length of the Red and Green lines will be 72 kilometres (km) and include 37 stations. It will also have two spur lines for Deira and Bur Dubai. The main railway station will be at the Al Ittihad Square in Burj Dubai. The track will run underground for some stretches and above ground for others. Blue Line will serve communities along the Emirates Road. It will be 47 km long and will provide a shuttle service between Dubai International Airport and the new airport at Jebel Ali. The line will also serve the communities along the Emirates Road.

21 May 2006

The client is prequalifying consultants for the Blue Line. (24/06/06)

21 May 2006

The following three lines are also being planned :*Purple Line - Serving the Business Bay, Burj Dubai and creek extension*Orange Line - Serving Dubailand*Yellow Line - Along the Al-Qudra road serving the Bawadi development