Dubai Metro, the Middle East’s first fully automated rail transport system and the world’s longest, will be officially launched today (September 9) and will start operations from tomorrow.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum will officially launch the mega rail project at 9 pm on Wednesday.

The railway system is being built in two phases – the Red Line and the Green Line. The Red Line, which will start today is 52.1 km long and will run from Rashidiya to Jebel Ali. It will feature 29 stations, when fully complete by February 2010.

But for now, the service is starting with the 10 stations of Nakheel Harbour & Tower, Mall of the Emirates, Financial Centre, Al Jafiliya, Khalid Bin Al Waleed, Union Square, Al Rigga, Deira City Centre, Airport T3 and Rashidiya Terminal.

The 22.5 km Green Line will run from Al Qusais to Jaddaf and have 18 stations and is scheduled to start in June 2010.

Every stop will be served by buses, abras or water taxis, all with air-conditioned waiting areas. The complete system should be fully operational by 2015.

Tickets will be rechargeable cards, which can be purchased from the vending machines in every station. And the cards come in four colours: gold, silver, blue, and red.

While the gold and silver cards each cost Dh20 (including Dh14 of credit), the blue card comes at Dh70 (including Dh20 of credit) and the red card at Dh2.

The silver card is for frequent travellers who commute between two stations, while the blue card is a secured, more personalised card packed with loyalty programs and online services.

The gold card is for the high-end travellers who would like to travel in style - leather seats and carpeted Gold Class carriages.

The red card is for just one trip. Apart from these, one can also buy any of the cards for single trips, which are priced accordingly.

The stations also feature shops, restaurants, coffee machines, banks, ATMs and first-aid trained station staff. And for security there are 3,000 CCTV cameras which will keep watch over the passengers.

It is estimated that the Dubai Metro will generate revenues of Dh17 billion ($4.6 billion) over the next 10 years.

The budget for the Red and Green Lines has almost doubled to Dh28 billion, from the original estimate of Dh15.5 billion.

Future plans include the extension of the Red Line to the Jebel Ali/Abu Dhabi border. Also in the pipeline are a  Purple Line to link Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali (which should open June 2010) in 2012, a Blue Line to serve the two airports along Emirates Road and even a Yellow Line, details of which are unavailable.