The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) announced the timings of its services during the holiday marking the 43rd National Day including Customer Service Centres, paid parking zones, public buses, Dubai Metro, Dubai Tram, marine transit modes, and driving schools as well as vehicles testing & registration centres.

Moaza Al Murri, Director of RTA Marketing & Corporate Communication, said: “All Customer Service Centres will be closed during the National Day holiday starting from Tuesday 2nd of December and resume service on Sunday 7th of December.

Paid parking zones

Paid parking zones all over Dubai will be free of charge, except for the Fish Market and the multi-level parking lot, starting from the 2nd of December, and the paid service will be reactivated as of Saturday the 6th of December.”

Dubai Metro

“As for the Dubai Metro service hours during the holiday period from the 2nd up to the 4th of December, Green Line stations will start service at 05:50 am and remain open until 12:00 am (midnight) on both Tuesday and Wednesday, while on Thursday, the service will be running until 01:00 am (on the following day). Red Line Stations will start service from 05:30 am until 12:00 am (midnight), while on Thursday the service will be running until 01:00 am (on the following day),” explained Al Murri.

Dubai Tram

As for the Dubai tram, Al Murri added: “Dubai tram will be operating from 06:30 am until 01:30 am (the following day) during the National Day holiday from Tuesday 2nd of December until Thursday 4th of December.”

“The timing of public buses (Dubai Bus) during the holiday from 2nd to 4th December will be as follows: Public transport stations, including main stations like Gold Souk and Ghubaiba, will start at 05:00 am and continue service until 12:00 am (midnight).

“Subsidiary stations, such as Satwa, Qusais, Quoz Industrial, and Jebel Ali, will operate from 05:45 until 11:00 pm, with the exception of C01 Route which will be operational around-the-clock.”

“Stations of Feeder Bus Service at Rashidiya, Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta, Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifa, Etisalat, and

Abu Hail will start service from 05:15 am up to 12:10 am (past midnight). The service timing of all metro feeder buses will be synchronised with the Metro working hours,” elaborated Al Murri.

Buses

“The operational timing of commercial and inter-city bus service will be as follows: Main Stations, such as Ghubaiba, will operate around-the-clock, and subsidiary stations, such as Sabkha, Union Square, Deira City Center and Karama, will operate from 06:00 am up to 12.00 am (midnight). External stations, such as Sharjah (Jubail – Bur Dubai), will be on service 24 hours, Abu Dhabi route will be operating from 05:00 until 01:00 am, Fujairah route from 06:35 am until 09:35 pm, and Ajman route from 05:30 until 10:00 pm while Hatta route will be operating from 06:00 am until 09:05 pm,” continued Al Murri.

Marine transit services

About the marine transit services during the holiday, Al Murri said: “The Water Bus will be operating at Creek stations from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, and at the Marina Station from 12:00 pm (at noon) to 12:00 am (midnight), and the Water Taxi will start service form 09:00 am until 10:00 pm. The Dubai Ferry will be offering services at Ghubaiba Station at 11:00 am, 01:00 pm, 02:30 pm, 05:00 pm and 06:30 pm; at the Marina Station be at 11:00 am, 01:00 pm, 03:00 pm, 05:00 pm and 06:30 pm; and at Mamzar Station the Ferry service will be at 04:30 pm and 06:30 pm.”

“Electric abras will be available for rides during the National Day holiday at the Global Village from 04:00 pm until 01:00 am (past midnight), at Burj Khalifa from 04:00 pm to 11:30 pm, at Mamzar Station from 04:00 pm to 11:59 pm, while at Atlantis, electricity–powered abras will be operational from 01:00 pm to 09:00 pm. Diesel-powered abras will be shuttling in Dubai Creek (Shandagha, Ghubaiba, and Fahidi) from 03:00 pm to 11:00 pm,” explained Al Murri.

Testing & registration

“All vehicles testing & registration services will be closed from Tuesday 2nd December to Thursday 4th December and will resume service on Saturday 6th of December 2014,” concluded the Director of RTA Marketing & Corporate Communication.

UAE National Day: Dubai’s super cars in super new World Record

Luxury car parade in Guinness Book of World Records

Dubai recorded a new world record for the Guinness Book of World Records through the participation of 58 luxury cars in a 3.2km parade, Emarat Al Youm has reported.

The Dubai Grand Parade was led by the Dubai Police’s fleet of supercars.

The procession included classic and some modified vehicles, many of which had been decorated in the colours of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag, on the occasion of the country’s 43rd National Day. Bugatti, Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Aston Martin, were some of the brands on display.

The super, luxury and classic cars and bikes parade began at Meydan and travelled through Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard in Downtown Dubai to Burj Al Arab and back to Meydan.

In addition to a Formula One car simulator, plenty of fun and games were on at the Motor Village at Meydan.

The final whistle will be blown today at 9pm for the longest football match ever played in the UAE, which started yesterday at 9am in Dubai yesterday.

The marathon match, organised by the Dubai Sports Council at the Dubai Police Stadium, is being held as part of the 43rd UAE National Day anniversary celebrations.

When it ends tomorrow, the match will have lasted for a continuous 36 hours, with 1,260 players taking turns on the pitch, according to a pre-arranged schedule for substitutions.

A number of current and yesteryear’s UAE national team stars, as well as students and members of different communities in Dubai, will have participated in the game, described by Gazi Al Madani, Head of the Sports Tourism, as the longest match in football history.