Dubai’s new rail system, known as the Metro, is 60% completed according to a recent announcement from the RTA.

Although unseen, apart from the traffic chaos around the major station sites, the tunneling beneath the city is well advanced. The section going under the Creek is reported to have been completed.

The visible section above ground along the main freeway, Shaikh Zayed Road, running from the city to Jebel Ali is moving at a very fast pace, visibly changing almost daily and small signs indicating where stations will be and their names are in place in many locations. So we’re able to get some visible idea of what it’s going to be like.

Two things that have become apparent intrigue me. They are that the overground section has some quite tight bends and it also has hills and valleys, almost a gentle rollercoaster.

Interchanges are already in place along SZR and others are being built, most on three levels with underpasses and flyovers. The Metro is going over some flyovers but under some of the others. Here’s the proof, photographs I’ve taken along SZR.

First, note the height of the pillars here which take the structure for the rails:

And here’s the Mall of the Emirates interchange with the pillars in place to take the railway over the flyover:

But further along SZR near to Ibn Battuta Mall, it’s at just about ground level: