The Palm Jumeirah Monorail, which is slated to be operational in April, will have the capacity to carry some 40,000 passengers around the island on a daily basis. “We have been testing the Palm Monorail successfully and we are delighted to announce that it will be open for visitors and residents of Palm Jumeirah from April 2009,” said Chris O’Donnel, chief executive officer of Nakheel, the Dubai-based real estate developer behind the Palm Jumeirah.

A delegation from the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) also conducted an inspection, riding the Monorail from the Gateway station at the trunk of the Palm Jumeirah to the Atlantis Aquaventure station. The distance of 5.45 km was covered in eight minutes. The Monorail will halt at two more stations, the Trump International Hotel and the Palm Mall. The monorail will be connected with Al Sufouh Tram service which is set to open in April, 2011. The tram services will, additionally, facilitate a link with the Red Line of Dubai Metro. The monorail will initially carry up to 2,400 passengers per hour per direction in four trains, each comprising three cars.

published in GulfNews