The Al Sufouh Tram system was designed to be an integral part of the Dubai transport network, linking the Dubai Metro and the Palm Monorail and running along Al Sufouh Road and Jumeirah Beach Road from Mall of the Emirates at one end to the Dubai Marina. After initially being planned for completion in 2009, when the first phase of the Dubai Metro was completed, it was first delayed until 2012, and it has recently been announced that the Al Sufouh Tram System has been delayed by another 2 years and will now only be ready by 2014 due to the current economic climate. Recently Sheikh Mohammed officially unveiled the designs for the interiors of the trains and of the stations and plans were made to up the tempo of the development of Al Sufouh Tram so that it would indeed be ready by 2014.
Many of the RTA traffic projects for Dubai have been delayed in recent years due to the financial situation in the Emirates but it does seem that most of the projects will eventually be completed, most likely once the residential areas are themselves completed and occupied, to ensure full use of the Dubai trams and other forms of transport.
When phase one of the project is complete (end of 2014), the tram will run for 20 hours a day from 5am until 1am and so will really help to reduce the level of traffic that builds up along the roads around Dubai Marin and JBR.
The roads down near Jumeirah Beach Residence have been dug up now for a number of years for the Al Sufouh Tram Project but not much progress seems to have been made and the roads are still a bit of a mess in that area.
The Dubai Metro has been a great success since it opened, with millions of passengers in the last few years and tens of thousands of residents using the transport system for their daily commute. As the traffic in Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach residence is so bad, particularly at weekends, it is anticipated that the Al Sufouh Tram System could make a huge difference once it is open and providing (unlike the Dubai Metro) the RTA get the opening hours right.