The monorail connecting Dubai’s mainland and Atlantis Hotel at Palm Jumeirah has opened last month and we went to experience it.
The driverless light rail system travels along the trunk of the man-made islands from the Gateway station to Atlantis Hotel’s Aquaventure (water park). This monorail system services four stations but for now, only the first and last station is open.
A round trip costs 25 dhs (US$6.8) and a one way ticket costs 15 dhs (US$4). Expensive. Not for everyday commute. In Japan, Pristine would be exempted from buying train tickets but here, no. All children beyond 90 cms has to pay – and we all know how she’s so beyond a meter already!
The monorail ticket up-close. It is made of hard half plastic-half paper material and shows illustration of the palm island. I say, they should reduce the material cost of this ticket and in turn, reduce the cost of the fares. Train tickets doesn’t have to be this grand.
She was excited to scan her ticket at the gate.
From the train platform, while waiting for our ride, we saw the Burj Al Arab.
On the other side, construction at the foot of Palm Jumeirah is still going on. We went on a Friday but apparently, it’s not everyone’s day off. We saw so many workers out in the hot sun.
The train arrived on time, which, honestly, I did not expect. Pristine asked, “where are the other people?” She remembered the rush of the crowds at the train stations in Tokyo.
Another view of how the train looked inside. There were no other people in that car compartment so we had the space all to ourselves.
On our left side, we can see One and Only Royal Mirage Hotel’s private beach.
The monorail stopped at the two stations, Trump Tower and Palm Mall but the doors did not open. There’s no Trump Tower and Palm Mall yet!
As the train nears Atlantis Hotel, I was finally able to take a photo of it, with the whole building in one frame.
Atlantis Hotel is built on the crescent part of the palm islands and the last stop of the monorail. We got a closer glimpse of the private beach. I hope the beach goers had a lot of sunblock lotion on!
The monorail’s last stop is Aquaventure station. Aquaventure is a fun waterpark inside Atlantis Hotel. We can see the action from the waterpark aboard the monorail.
As we arrived at Aquaventure station, poor girl thought we’re going to go swimming and rushed out. She was so excited to swim!
But of course we didn’t because it was not part of the plan. Besides, it costs a lot to swim at Aquaventure – something to the tune of US$77 per person!
Random facts about Dubai’s first monorail:
- Monorail trains are driverless, total of 4 trains operating, will increase to 9 trains per hour after the monorail connects to the Dubai Metro.
- Each train has three carriages
- Journey length (one way) is 5.45 km and takes 5 minutes (I feel it was beyond 5 minutes but I didn’t measure the time)
- Cost of the Jumeirah Monorail project was AED 1.4 billion (US$380 million), equivalent to the cost of 56 million return tickets on the monorail, which would take about 5 years to recover if the train ran at full capacity of 2400 passengers per hour during opening hours. (Oh dear…did you see how empty the train was?)
- Monorail developed by consortium of developers, led by Marubeni Corp of Japan, and including Obayashi, a civil contractor Obayashi, and Hitachi, a train builder and mechanical/electrical contractor, at their Kasado Works plant in Japan. (Main reason why my husband was so interested in this – he has friends working on the monorail and the Metro)
Watch for the next installment of this post where we take a look of what’s inside Atlantis Hotel and a video while the monorail is running!
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Wow…all of that for under $10? I would ride that and feel like I had a good tour of Dubai!
I am very impressed at the cleanliness of the monorail. Our metro here in DC is somewhat clean, but they are in need of a makeover.
The fare is cheap if it’s for sightseeing but if it’s for everyday commute, I don’t think people would use it.
Dubai’s monorail is clean because it’s new – I am not sure how it will look like a few years from now…
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Great pictures and looks like a lot of fun!
Yes, we had a great time!
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Very informative post. Lovely photos. This reminds me of the monorail in Odaiba in Japan. I think the tickets must be re-usable/rechargable or something like that, that it was made so ‘grand’ like that.
BTW, happy father’s day to M!
No, not at all – the ticket is just for one day use! Oh, and happy father’s day to Mike…I was just reading your post now and about to comment on your blog.
What a fun trip! My son will love to do that probably every weekend. I will consider that a cheap outing but it might be too hard for them to ride the monorail to see those nice beach and pool but can’t play there. At $70/person, that’s so expensive!
Yes, it would be too much torture for them to see the pool and not go for swimming! Kids really love water, it’s part of their nature.
Amy @ The Q Familys last blog post..Dreaming of: New Zealand – The LOTR Trilogy Epic Tour
That hotel is enormous!
It is! and wait till you see what’s inside!
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wow! I only have discovery channel to watch how the palm island was made— but through your posts see how the man made islands have blossomed- not to mention a monorail train that costs a lot of money… grabe giyod noh- unsa mahimo sa kwarta!…. (btw- please visit my friendster or facebook, nag post ko og new pixes nila danielle and josh)
Funny that I have never seen any of those documentaries about Dubai!
Dubai never stops amazing me. Indoor ski slope in the desert, man-made islands… Can’t wait to visit it some day!
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Wow. That is amazing, truly. The eighth wonder of the world? The whole thing, the island, the monorail, the hotel, parks, etc… And expensive!
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Seeing your shot of the Atlantis hotel, I realize it is nearly identical to the Atlantis hotel in Nassau, Bahamas! It’s one of our favourite places to go in the bahamas, though they charge around $15 just to go in and walk around! There is also a beautiful aquarium and a mini water-park where you can take a ride through tube in the middle of a shark tank.
Yes, it was made to look exactly like that of the Bahamas’ Atlantis Hotel. People without hotel reservation in Dubai’s Atlantis Hotel can’t go inside the hotel main building but there’s a small mall attached to it, where we can go for free.
The shark tank adventure is also available here – I haven’t been there though. It sounds scary – what if the tank cracks and all hell breaks lose?
I watched a special on tv about the making of these islands. I was amazed…and now seeing your photos…I’m even more amazed!
Great post.
and I am sure you’ll be most amazed when you come visit and see for yourself!
Free tour!
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Wow. Those pictures are amazing! Thank you for sharing!!
It sounds like you guys had a good time.
Yes, we definitely had a good time. Will start saving to be able to stay in that hotel and take advantage of the free passes to the water park and other perks.
The saving will take longer because it’s not cheap there — unless Atlantis sponsors me in exchange for a hotel review! LOL
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My plan for my next vacation will definitely be Dubai. I hope I will get there and get some pictures as well, and enjoy the city.
Thanks
Wow!!! great..big help to all expat there..im proud that im part of that..i work there as office boy!!!
Wow! What an amazing adventure! I’m thinking we need to take a trip to Dubai one day
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This was so interesting, Grace. I enjoyed the photos very much.
Joyce T.s last blog post..Summertime
wow…amazing photos…and was good to read….
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