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Car-loving Dubai targets commuters with first tram line, complete with chilled stations

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Trams stop at the Marina Towers station during the first day of operation in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. The car-loving Mideast commercial hub of Dubai has opened its first tram line, enticing would-be riders with air-conditioned stations and a premium section on its sleek cars for big-spending commuters. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) (The Associated Press)

A tram leaves Marina Towers station during the first day of operation in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. The car-loving Mideast commercial hub of Dubai has opened its first tram line, enticing would-be riders with air-conditioned stations and a premium section on its sleek cars for big-spending commuters. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) (The Associated Press)

Passengers use the tram during its first day of operation in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. The car-loving Mideast commercial hub of Dubai has opened its first tram line, enticing would-be riders with air-conditioned stations and a premium section on its sleek cars for big-spending commuters. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) (The Associated Press)

The car-loving Mideast commercial hub of Dubai has opened its first tram line, enticing would-be riders with air-conditioned stations and a premium section on its sleek cars for big-spending commuters.

The 10.6 kilometer (6.6 mile) street-level line opened to the public on Wednesday morning following a fireworks-studded inauguration the previous evening. It aims to provide alternatives to driving along Dubai's rapidly developing southwestern coast.

The line includes 11 stations linking the skyscraper-jammed Dubai Marina with office parks and residential areas further up a coastal road.

Commuters can connect to the existing Dubai Metro and a monorail line that glides down the middle of the city's first man-made palm-shaped island, Palm Jumeirah.