Crews have launched tunneling operations on the $5.6 billion Blue Line metro expansion, starting excavation of a 15.5km underground corridor that will extend Dubai’s automated rail network to nine districts currently without metro service.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, activated the first tunneling machine on May 3, according to state news agency WAM. Construction began in June 2025, as previously reported by ENR, and the project is now 20% complete and on track to reach 30% by the end of the year. The line will open on September 9, 2029, the 20th anniversary of the original launch of the Dubai Metro.
“Our projects in Dubai are… guided by clear plans, precise timelines and national talent capable of turning the vision into tangible achievements in practice,” Sheikh Mohammed told state media.
The design and construction contract was awarded in December 2024 to the MAPA-Limak-CRRC consortium. Turkish contractors MAPA and Limak are overseeing the civil works, while China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. supplies rail systems and 28 driverless trains. A joint venture of AtkinsRéalis and Parsons, Dubai’s previous work includes the Red and Green Metro lines, is the engineer.
More than 10,000 workers have been mobilized, with more than 500 engineers and experts overseeing delivery and 180 rail specialists integrated into operations, according to state media and project officials. According to the project statements, the consortium has recorded more than 13 million hours of work without a lost time injury.
Underground works, challenging creek side soils
The initial units run in three directions from a launch shaft in International City 1, a district in eastern Dubai that serves as the line’s main underground interchange.
The launch shaft at International City 1 will anchor the subway system’s largest underground interchange station, a more than 44,000-square-meter structure designed to handle projected passenger volumes of 350,000 daily commuters, according to WAM.
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Three earth pressure balance TBMs manufactured by Germany-based CREG Wirth are equipped with foam conditioning systems. The TBMs are scheduled to deploy under a major arterial road to a maintenance depot and into an adjacent residential corridor.
This double-shield TBM is similar to “Al Wugeisha” and the other two TMBs being deployed in Dubai’s $5.6 billion Blue Line metro expansion. These machines are designed to maintain excavation progress in varying subsurface conditions while simultaneously installing segmented tunnel linings.
Image courtesy of Robbins
Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) named the main TBM “Al Wugeisha”. The machine is 163m long, weighs more than 2,000 tonnes and operates 24 hours a day, with feed rates ranging from 13m to 17m per day, according to WAM. The names of the other tuneras were not identified.
RTA geotechnical investigations previously reviewed by ENR indicate that the corridor traverses unconsolidated marine sands and sabkha deposits interbedded with gypsum lenses and subsurface voids.
The water table is only three to four meters below the water table in hypersaline conditions, increasing the risks of corrosion and ingress, while loose deposits pose a risk of liquefaction under load.
Subsurface conditions require foam-conditioned earth pressure equalization machines, segmented liners equipped with hydrophilic gaskets, continuous dewatering systems, and extensive drilling and cone penetration testing, according to RTA’s geotechnical report.
The project’s underground and elevated works are being supported by dedicated precast tunnel and viaduct ring factories operating alongside two concrete plants to maintain simultaneous construction on multiple fronts. Project materials indicate that the facilities are capable of producing up to 12 tunnel rings and 10 to 12 viaduct segments per day.
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A new third runner
The existing Dubai Metro network, one of the longest fully automated metro systems in the world, runs 90km across 53 stations on the Red and Green Lines, both delivered with Parsons as key consultant.
The Blue Line will become the system’s third major corridor, connecting to the existing network at Creek Station on the Green Line and Centrepoint Station on the Red Line. The project follows earlier expansion phases that included the Dubai Tram and the Route 2020 extension built for Expo 2020 Dubai.
The project’s 14 stations include three interchange stations, seven elevated stations and four subway stations, with a maintenance depot at Al Ruwayyah 3 designed to hold 60 trains, according to consortium member Limak. Construction of the piers for a 1.3 kilometer viaduct over Dubai Creek, the first waterway metro flyover, has begun and the bridge structures are expected to take shape by June 2027.
The Blue Line’s main route will extend east from central Dubai through growing residential and technology districts, while a second branch will connect suburban areas in the northeast to the metro network.
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High station, trains without a driver
A rendering shows Dubai Metro’s planned Dubai Creek Harbor station on the $5.6 billion Blue Line expansion. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the structure is expected to rise 74m.
Rendering: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Among the project’s signature structures is the Dubai Creek Harbor Station, officially Emaar Properties Station, designed by New York City-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. SOM said the station will rise 74m, making it the tallest metro station in the world.
According to Parsons, the line will use third-track electrification, platform doors and communications-based train control technology intended to support two-minute train advances.
With a design capacity of 46,000 passengers per hour, the line is expected to carry 200,000 daily commuters by 2030 and 320,000 by 2040. Total expected benefits exceed $15.4 billion by 2040, including a 20 percent reduction in corridor traffic congestion, according to WAM.
Dubai officials also said the Blue Line is the emirate’s first transportation project designed to fully meet green building standards and aim for LEED Platinum certification.
The Blue Line joins several major UAE rail projects now moving forward, including Dubai’s planned Gold Line and Etihad Rail Mobility’s separately awarded Abu Dhabi-Dubai high-speed rail corridor, as ENR reported in February.
