Dubai Metro's Purple Line faces cancellation

$2.73bn high-speed express railway link between Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central awaits cancellation. Purple Line was set to run from Dubai International Airport to Al Maktoum International in Jebel Ali. Plans for the original line showed a 49km link with eight stations along its length. It was intended to cut travel time between the two airports to 40 minutes. But this ambitious project was halted in the wake of the global financial crisis. Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said, “Our view is that what both airports need is really fast and efficient links Downtown to residential and businesses, so we don’t really need a fast Metro link between the two airports because the amount of traffic between airports won’t be significant.” Dubai Airports had pushed for the development of a central rail terminal with connections to the two airports through the city’s main business and tourist areas, instead of the Purple Line. Earlier this year, the Managing Director of Al Futtaim Engineering, which worked on the Dubai Metro Red Line, said that there was potential for the Purple Line to be revived.