Do you take the metro into the office? If so, we have some excellent news for you…

No one loves to start the working day off crammed into a carriage tighter than a tin of sardines.

However the morning metro is set to get a little less busy after the Roads and Transport Authority announced they’re adding more trips to the network.

In a bid to ease commuter congestion, 276 more journeys per week will be added to the public transport option – starting from today.

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The RTA is increasing the amount of trips on both the Red and Green line “in reply to the growing demand for the services from the public”, the authority tweeted over the weekend.

Of the 276 additions, 154 will be on the Red line and 122 on the Green line.

Some of the most appreciated changes will be several short trips between the metro’s busiest stations along the Red line during peak hours – so hopefully no more having to watch three jam-packed trains pass you by.

According to Gulf News, the RTA currently puts on 71 trains during peak hours (which are from 7am to 9am and 4.30pm to 8pm), with a five-minute gap between vehicles on the Green line, and a two-and-a-half minute wait between vehicles on the Red line.

RTA figures released earlier this year stated around 31,000 passengers an hour use the metro in the morning, while 53,000 riders board a train every 60 minutes in the evening.

The changes won’t increase the number of trains on the line itself – just the number of trips the vehicles make.

So where will these new trips cover?

Those aforementioned short loops on the Red Line? Well, there’s going to be three a day between Sundays and Thursdays, and five a day on Fridays.

On weekdays, two of those trips will be go in the Rashidiya direction, and the other will be UAE Exchange bound. On Fridays, it’ll be three towards Rashidiya and two towards UAE Exchange.

Weekday travellers, here’s the specifics:

– The first extra trip will leave Dubai Internet City at 6.07am and reach Al Rashidiya at 6.55am
– The second will leave Al Jafiliya at 6.27am and reach Al Rashidiya station at 6.50am
– The third will depart Burjuman at 6.02am and reach UAE Exchange at 6.52am.

And here’s the details for Fridays:

– The first extra trip will leave Dubai Internet City at 10.14am and reach Al Rashidiya at 11.02am
– The second will leave Business Bay at 10.23am and reach Al Rashidiya at 10.56am
– The third will leave Burjuman at 10.13am and reach Rashidiya at 10.51am
– The fourth will leave Deira City Centre at 10.05am and reach UAE Exchange at 11.02am
– The fifth will leave Al Jafiliya at 10.06am and reach UAE Exchange at 10.56am.

There’s also going to be three added journeys on Saturdays:

– The first extra trip will leave Dubai Internet City at 6.03am and reach Rashidiya at 6.51am
– The second will leave Al Jafliya at 6.21am and reach UAE Exchange at 6.44am
– The third will leave BurJuman at 6.02am and reach UAE Exchange at 6.52am.

The other added trips will cover the same usual routes (they’ll just be a bit more frequent).

For more information about trips and timings, visit rta.ae.

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