My Ride around the Dubai Marina on the Tram

My ride on the Dubai Tram

I am lucky enough to live in a building in the Dubai Marina where I have the tram and metro within skipping distance (the tram is just across the road). My car becomes obsolete on weekends and it has done wonders for my time management and waistline too. Now when I go to the shops to get groceries I have to watch what I buy because I must carry it all home on the tram, and I could think of nothing better. 

I have the benefit of being able to see the tram from my apartment windows - yes all of them. So if I see one depatring I know that I have only a few minutes to lock up, get down stairs and walk across the road. This makes paddle boarding in the morning a whole load more fun - I launch from the Dive Centre at DIMC early in the morning and Paddle through the Marina. I take the tram there and home (although sometimes I walk as my legs get stiff from standing on the board). 

Many people have said that the tram is slow and that there is too long a wait between trams. However I am sure that the RTA is looking into these issues and they will be sorted as soon as possible. As for the tram being too slow - slow and steady wins the race and it's safe, especially seeing as there are a lot of children and parents with push chairs who use the trains in order to get around the Dubai Marina. 

You might also be interested in:

• Taking a water taxi in Dubai
• Getting around by Metro 
• Knowing more about all of Dubai's public transport systems

The sleek design of the station is quite stunning and walking up to it feels very satisfying, knowing that I'll be in airconditioned glory within minutes of leaving my front door. I use my NOL card to swipe my entry to the tram, though I wish they had the NOL detectors inside the trams too - that would make life easier. As I swipe I see a small queue of people buying their tickets from one of the many machines at the station. There are no turnstyles and it feels like public transport anywhere in the world - you're obliged to pay for it, however the checks on whether you've paid or not are random.

I ride the tram through JBR to Marina mall and the whole journey takes around 10 minutes. I didn't get a seat this time, it really was busy, but it was great to see people taking selfies and being generally proud to ride the Dubai tram. One young lady asks me to snap a picture of her, so I do and she's really enjoying herself. 

The tram? Yeah, I think it's great!!