Will the Palm Monorail continue to be a hit?

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Dubai's new Palm Monorail proves popular

Every now and then, when I fly over Dubai, I am reminded that there is beautiful cluster of islands on the coast of the city I now call home.

I say I am reminded because when you are sitting in the back seat of a taxi it is easy to forget what lies beneath its wheels.

From traveling on the new Palm Monorail today however, I discovered that for those of us who aren’t lucky enough to have a spare sea plane in our back garden, we can now get a real glimpse of the palm for AED15.

After some months of construction, the Palm Monorail opened its turnstiles to the public on Thursday and runs from Gateway Station through to Aqua adventure station on the crescent.

While I was taking in the sights of the clear Gulf waters and the Atlantis hotel I couldn’t help but think of a few problems the monorail may face in the coming summer months.

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Firstly, are people going to want to pay to get to the Palm or will they just drive? According to Nakheel they will pay. The Dubai-based developer said the monorail has been designed for tourism purposes.

But, there are two tourist destinations between the Gateway and Aquaventure stations, including the Trump Tower station and the Palm Mall station, both of which haven’t been completed. This means that people can only travel to the Atlantis and back.

Secondly, Dubai can cause humans to cook if they walk for more than two minutes up the road in the summer months. Are tourists going to get a taxi to the monorail station to hop on a train? Or will they tell the driver to continue on their journey?

Only time will tell. All I know is that travelling over water and seeing the branches of the Palm spread across the ocean is a sight worth seeing.

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