Dubai RTA details timings for transport services during Eid al Fitr holiday

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the timings of its services during the Eid al-Fitr holidays, covering customer service centres, car parks, public buses, Dubai Metro & Tram services, marine transit, driving institutes, as well as vehicles testing & registration centres.

Source: RTA. Al Marri.

Moaza Al Marri, Director of Marketing & Corporate Communication, RTA Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector, said: “Customer Service Centers will be off-duty the during Eid al-Fitr holiday from Sunday 3rd July 2016 and will resume duty on Sunday 10 July 2016. All paid parking zones in Dubai will be free of charge except for the parking lots of the Fish Market and the Multi-level Parking terminal starting from Sunday 3rd July, and fees will be activated on Saturday 9 July."

Al Marri added that trains will be running almost 24 hours during the holidays. 

Red Line stations

Tuesday 5 July: 5.30am to 11.59pm.

Wednesday 6 July: 12am to 2am; 5.50am to 11.59pm.

Thursday 7 July: 12am to 2am; 5.30am to 11.59pm.

Friday 8 July: 12am to 2am; 10am to 11.59pm.

Saturday 9 July: 12am to 2am.

Green Line stations

5 July:  5.50am to 11.59pm

6, 7 July: 12am to 2am; 5.50am to 11.59pm

8 July: 12am to 2am; 10am to 11.59pm

9 July: 12am to 2am.

The tram service will operate from 5 to 7 July from 6:30am to 1am the next day. On 8 July, the tram service will start at 9am and continue up to 1am on 9 July.

The Route C01 bus will operate around the clock. Other public buses will have varied timings:

Main bus stations, e.g. the Gold Souk

6, 7 July: 5.20am to 12 midnight (next day)

Al Ghubaiba Station; subsidiary stations, such as Al Qusais and Satwa

6, 7 July: 5am to 12 midnight (next day)

Al Quoz Industrial Area station

6, 7 July: 5.30am to 11.30pm

Jebel Ali station 

6, 7 July: 6am to 10.15pm 

Metro feeder service stations such as Rashidiya, Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta, Abu Hail, Etisalat, and Burj Khalifa Dubai Mall

6, 7 July: 5.15am to 1.10am (next day)

The service timing of commercial transport and inter-city bus services will be as follows: 

Main stations, such as Ghubaiba to:

Sharjah (Jubail): 24 hours 

Abu Dhabi: 5am to 12:50am the following day

Subsidiary stations, such as Sabkha will start at 6.30am and continue to 12 midnight. 

Union Square Station: 5am to 12:30am the next day. 

Deira City Center: 6:55am to 10pm. 

Karama Station: 6:10am to 10:15pm. 

Al Ahli Club Station: 7am to 11pm. 

External stations: 

Sharjah (Al Taawon): 7am to 11:30pm.

Al Fujairah Station: 6:45am to 10:30pm.

Ajman Station: 6am to 11:30pm.

Hatta Station: 6:30am to 10:40pm.

From 5 to 7 July, water buses at Marina Stations (Marina Mall, Marina Walk, Marina Terrace, and Marina Promenade) will run from 12 noon to 12 midnight. 

Water taxis will operate daily from 9am to 10pm. 

At Al Ghubaiba Station, the water taxi will operate from 4pm to 10pm

At Dubai Marina station it will operate from 2pm to 10pm. 

From Jumeirah Palm Atlantis, the service timings will be from 4pm to 10pm. 

From Jumeirah Palm Station (Rexos) it will run from 11am to 5pm.

Dubai Ferry will operate at Al Ghubaiba and Marina stations during the Eid holidays at 11am, 1pm, and then at 3pm, 5pm and 6:30pm.

The working hours of traditional abra (boats) at Dubai Creek Stations (Al Ghubaiba, Al Sabkha, Baniyas, and Dubai Old Souk) will be from 10am to 12 midnight. The Blue (electrical) abra will operate at Burj Khalifa from 6pm up to 11pm, at Al Mamzar from 2pm to 12 midnight, and at Atlantis from 1pm to 9pm. The air-conditioned abra at Al Jaddaf will operate from 7am to 12 midnight.

All service providers and partner centres will be closed from 5 to 7 July 2016.
Interested?

View detailed Eid al Fitr timings for all RTA services

DBS receives NTUC Women's Development Secretariat SG50 Special Award

DBS has received the NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) SG50 Special Award in recognition of its dedicated flexible working programme and employee support schemes designed to help staff better manage their time and balance their professional and personal needs. 

Said Cheong Meng Foong, Managing Director, Group Human Resources – Reward: “We adopt a holistic approach in creating a workplace where employees feel empowered, connected and valued. As a company that has a diverse workforce, we understand that our employees will have different needs at various phases of their lives and have put in place a number of initiatives to encourage staff to take charge of their career progression and to promote greater work life integration.”

Instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all policy, DBS offers staff benefits that meet different needs. These include:

- Flexible work arrangements

- Staff loans that generally offer better terms than commercial loans, helping staff who are looking to set up their homes make their first home in the early years of their careers

- Re-employment at 62 on terms that are better than tripartite guidelines and industry norms in Singapore

- Free health screenings for all our employees, which at the same time helps DBS understand any possible health issues of its population for more targeted intervention

- Being the first to pioneer the “Shield Companion” Plan - a medical plan that complements employees’ portable enhanced MediShield plan, reducing duplication of medical coverage. The bank also pays a certain amount into their MediSave accounts to subsidise their portable medical plans premium.

Joyce Chua, DBS Assistant Vice President, Corporate Trust & Fund Services, has benefitted from the bank’s flexi-work arrangements. “DBS’ flexi-work scheme has given me the opportunity to spend more quality time with my three teenage children. I was a full-time stay-at-home mother for about three years before deciding to join the workforce again. Under the bank’s part-time work arrangement, I managed to work out an arrangement that would allow me to work four full days a week instead of the standard five-day working week. This made the transition back to work easier for me," she said. 

"Now that I have a day off during the week, I am able to have a longer meal with my children on a weekday, and they will in turn share with me what is happening in their schools and the different problems they face – something that I think would not be possible if I had less time. Through this, I also get to know their friends better. What makes this all possible are my supportive managers and colleagues, who understand the situation I’m in, and whom I know will step up to help me in a heartbeat.”

One of DBS' flexi-work arrangements is Flexi-Time. While official working hours are from 8.30am to 6.00pm, full-time employees may choose their starting and finishing work hours  provided they complete a stipulated number of hours. For example, staff can commence work an hour earlier at 7.30am and end the day at 5.00pm, or commence work an hour later at 9.30am and end the day at 7.00pm. Line managers are encouraged to schedule meetings during the core working hours between 9:30am and 4:30pm.

Employees may also consider part-time work - fewer fixed hours per day or fewer full days per week - or to take unpaid leave beyond their earned annual leave entitlement period. This arrangement is highly valued by employees, especially in cases where they wish to follow their spouses on overseas assignments or do overseas volunteer work for a few months.

Two DBS employees also won awards in the Most Supportive Colleague category: Samantha Lau, Assistant Vice President, T&O-SG-Customer Centre, and Delia Tan, Analyst, T&O-SG-Customer Centre.

Oman announces Ramadan timings for government and business

The Omani government has announced that the official working hours during Ramadhan 1436 (from 18 June) for ministries and public sector organisations will be from 9am to 2pm. Muslims in the private sector will work six hours per day and 30 hours per week, according to a ministerial decision.

The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) separately announced that the US Embassy in Oman will be open during Ramadhan for American Citizens Services by appointment only, between 11am and 12 noon on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and between 8am and 10am on Tuesdays. Appointments are available online and may be accessed here.

When visiting the embassy, the OSAC states that American citizens should bring two forms of government-issued identification with photographs, as one must be left with the security guards while inside the building. Non-immigrant visa services during Ramadhan are available from 8am to 10:30am on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.