Arabian Business reported that the number of Dubai Metro passengers in the first 2 months of operation is about 40% higher than pre launch estimates.

The Roads and Transport Authority said that nearly 3 million passengers have used the Dubai Metro since the September 9th 2009 launch at an average of 57,000 trips per day.

It also revealed that new services for the elderly and students were to be launched in 2010, with free travel being one option for the elderly and reductions for students.

Mr Peyman Parham director of marketing and corporate communications of RTA said that "We have hit three million passengers on the Metro, which is fantastic. The daily number has been lower on week days and higher on weekends, averaging at about 57,000 per day. But there were a few days when it went to 90,000 to 100,000. The total number is 40% higher than we expected."

The authority also said that it had sold about 1.2 million Nol cards to date of which 900,000 are multiple use silver cards.

Mr Parham said that "We will soon have services for senior citizens and students which will launch in the H1 of 2010. The senior citizen population size is small but we want to honor them. Chances are we won't charge them. We are seeing feasibility at this point but that will be a great gesture and looks likely. For students we have to cut price. We don't know by how much at this moment but it should be more than 30%."

(Sourced from Arabianbusiness.com)