Dubai plans to build a 42-kilometer (26-mile) metro line costing more than $9 billion, providing a major economic stimulus as the emirate tries to shake off the impact of the Iran war.
The all-underground Gold Line is Dubai’s largest transport project to date and is scheduled to be completed by September 2032.
Dubai is looking to shore up confidence in the emirate after it was repeatedly attacked by Iranian missiles and drones, shaking a perception of security fostered over decades. Tourist arrivals to the city have collapsed, hitting hotels and airlines, and property prices declined in March for the first time since the pandemic, according to data compiled by consulting services provider ValuStrat.
As a result, Dubai’s leaders have increased their public interactions with the city’s business community during the war, projecting calm and vowing to come back stronger. “Our future endeavours will not stop; rather, they will accelerate,” Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said on Wednesday.