Happy Birthday Dubai Metro!

It’s hard to believe but it was just 10 years ago today, on September 9, 2009, that Dubai Metro came into our lives – not only making travelling around Dubai easier, but cheaper as well.

The Dubai Metro was an idea of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the Dubai Ruler took to Twitter to share the Dubai Metro milestone in a series of tweets.

‘Tomorrow we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of one of our major projects in Dubai and the UAE, the Dubai Metro,” Sheikh Mohammed Tweeted on Sunday September 8.

“Dubai Metro was once a dream. Nothing is impossible if you can dream it,” he continued in a separate Tweet.

Given its popularity inauguration, we can safely say that the dream is also a massive success.

The tweet also displays a photo of H.H. Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, back when Sheikh Mohammed was just a 10 year old boy. It was taken in 1959 in the cockpit of the London Underground. It was this visit that sparked the dream in the young Sheikh Mohammed’s mind, and his dream came true 50 years later.

Here are a few photos depicting the construction phase of the Dubai Metro more than ten years ago which made a young boys dream a reality.


A Dubai Metro station photo taken back in January 2008. Can you guess which station this is?


Here’s another one taken in 2008 with the outer cladding in progress


Track building in progress


Construction workers on the Dubai Metro tracks


Construction work in one of the tunnels of the Dubai Metro taken in May 2008

For more images, you can check out our Dubai Metro picture special post here.

— For the best of Dubai straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.

Images: Provided, Getty Images, Dubai Media Office