Tag Archives: tsi
Entire Dubai Metro cabin for women and children
Entire Dubai Metro cabin for women and children Lily B. Libo-on / 27 August 2013 From September 1, the Roads and Transport Authority’s Rail Agency will extend the Metro cabin capacity for women and child passengers to meet the growing demand during peak hours. A cabin of the Dubai Metro reserved for women and children during peak hours from September 1. — KT photo by Leslie Pableo Peak hours are from 7am to 9am and from 5pm to 8pm during which one cabin will be allocated entirely for women and children from Sundays to Thursdays. Currently, only half of the cabin is dedicated as special Dubai Metro compartment for women and children to provide, in addition to privacy, more space to allow strollers and bags. Ramadan Abdullah Mohammed, Director of Rail Operations, said that every Metro train has five cabins, of which half a cabin has been allocated to women and children and the other half for Gold card-holders, and the rest for all other passengers. “With the extension of the Metro cabin capacity for women and children, only three-and-a-half cabins will be for other passengers during peak hours starting September 1. “The number of women and children Metro passengers have noticeably increased primarily due to the growth in the public transport culture among the public from different social cross-sections, including women and children. Such a rise in the number of these commuters has prompted us to extend the current capacity of their Metro cabin to reach half of silver cabin.” He said that this Metro cabin capacity is being extended to make the Metro trip smoother and more comfortable for women and children, especially that this segment of Metro passengers needs to be given privacy. The Rail Operation director appealed to all male Metro commuters to respect this new cabin allocation during the peak hours and help women and child travellers enjoy riding in the Metro with more privacy. Dubai Metro, which was launched on 09-09-2009, is servicing 400,000 riders a day, with 46 trains on the Red Line and 10 trains on the Green Line during peak hours. Dubai’s is the world’s longest driverless Metro at 75km. – lily@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Infrared cameras catch motorists unawares
Infrared cameras catch motorists unawares Staff Reporter / 27 August 2013 Traffic signals using infrared surveillance cameras are catching unaware errant motorists jumping red lights and speeding through amber lights in the country’s Capital. The cameras, which function using a hi-tech system, uses infrared beams without a flash to capture road violators. Due to the number of drivers being caught out by the cameras, the Traffic and Patrols Directorate of Abu Dhabi Police have called on motorists to reduce speeds when approaching road signals in order to avoid risking their life and the lives of other road users. The infrared–run surveillance cameras also monitor and capture the wrong use of vehicular traffic lanes, motor vehicles stopping on pedestrian crossings, and motorists committing illegal turns in the road. Director of the Directorate Brigadier Hussein Ahmed Al Harithi, warned of jumping red signals, and added that people on their mobile phones often commit the violation. “Such mistakes often result in material losses and human casualties”, he said, noting that, priority is given to traffic travelling in other directions when the red light is on. He said the surveillance system on road junctions in Abu Dhabi, which had been enforced by the Directorate since the beginning of 2012, is an integrated project and aims to improve traffic safety at the junctions. Accordingly, he said for five years, surveillance cameras have been installed on more than 150 road intersections in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region. “The vehicular traffic surveillance system is one of the modern systems which conducts a continuous evaluation to the engineering condition of the road junctions and their impact on traffic safety as well as the occurrence of road accidents”, he said, and is linked to the Directorate’s reports system, SMS and convertible message systems. The surveillance cameras span more than five lanes in each direction of the road, and has several functions including reading all number plates, identifying the number of vehicles on the road, noting the average speed limit, and identifying the number and directions of the pedestrians while traffic signals turn green and red. The Directorate is making huge efforts to curb traffic accidents, and has intensified traffic awareness through the Abu Dhabi Traffic Programme called “Together”, on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
UN inspectors reach Syria gas victims
UN inspectors reach Syria gas victims (Reuters) / 26 August 2013 UN chemical weapons inspectors in Syria met and took samples from victims of an apparent poison gas attack in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus on Monday after the UN team survived a gun attack on its convoy. A Syrian doctor told Reuters from the town of Mouadamiya that investigators from the United Nations had crossed the frontline from the centre of the capital, which remains under the control of President Bashar Al Assad’s forces. The UN said the shooting crippled one vehicle but mentioned no injuries. With Western powers considering military strikes, despite vocal opposition from Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies, any evidence to support rebel claims that government forces fired gas-laden rockets five days ago that killed hundreds of civilians will be a key element in arguments for peace or war. “I am with the team now,” the doctor who uses the name Abu Karam told Reuters by telephone from rebel-held Mouadamiya. “We are in the Rawda mosque and they are meeting with the wounded. Our medics and the inspectors are talking to the patients and taking samples from the victims now.” Another opposition activist said a large crowd was growing of people eager to air their grievances to the UN team. There was a plan for the experts also to take samples from corpses. Syrian state television blamed rebel “terrorists” for the shooting, which briefly halted the convoy but failed to stop the inspectors from crossing the front line. The opposition blamed it on pro-Assad militiamen. Any delay diminishes whatever evidence the experts might recover. With speculation mounting that Nato powers might fire cruise missiles to satisfy calls for action to protect Syrian civilians, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said any operation would be coordinated with allies. British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a holiday to chair a top level security meeting. “The United States is looking at all options regarding the situation in Syria. We’re working with our allies and the international community,” Hagel told a news conference. “We are analysing the intelligence. And we will get the facts. And if there is any action taken, it will be in concert with the international community and within the framework of legal justification.” Hagel plans discussions with his British and French counterparts, a senior US official said. The French foreign minister said on Monday that Russian and Chinese vetoes in the UN Security Council may make it hard to get a UN agreement to satisfy international law. The UN said in a statement that gunmen shot at the first vehicle in the team’s six-car convoy, damaging it to the point that the team had to stop to find a replacement car. “The first vehicle of the Chemical Weapons Investigation Team was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area,” it said. “It has to be stressed again that all sides need to extend their cooperation so that the team can safely carry out their important work.” The team of chemical weapons experts wearing blue UN body armour left a Damascus hotel where they have been based for over a week, accompanied by a car of Syrian security personnel, as well as an ambulance. At least two mortar bombs struck the area of central Damascus on Monday. Syrian state media said the mortar bombs were locally made and fired by “terrorists”. SANA state news agency said three people were wounded. Assad said accusations that his forces used chemical weapons were politically motivated and warned the United States against intervening in his country. “Would any state use chemicals or any other weapons of mass destruction in a place where its own forces are concentrated? That would go against elementary logic. So accusations of this kind are entirely political,” he told the Russian newspaper Izvestia in an interview. “Failure awaits the United States as in all previous wars it has unleashed, starting with Vietnam and up to the present day.” In Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China supported an independent and objective investigation by UN experts into allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and urged a cautious response and a political resolution to the crisis. The experts’ mandate is to find out whether chemical weapons were used, not to assign blame, but the evidence they collect, for example about the missile used, can provide a strong indication about the identity of the party responsible. Continue reading
