Dubai Goes Metro

Dubai, the oil-rich city on the Persian Gulf that in recent years has engaged in a number of mind-boggling building projects including the Palms artificial islands (built in the shape of palm trees of course) and Burj Dubai, now the world's tallest building, opened another massive project on Wednesday - the Gulf region's first Metro rail system.

The Metro Red Line opened with much fanfare on Wednesday and carried more than 100,000 riders during its first two days of operation (that's nearly 10% of Dubai's total population). Though how many of them were actual commuters and how many were just trying out the latest attraction in a city full of attractions remains to be seen. The purpose of the Red Line though is to relieve traffic in car crazy, and chronically congested, Dubai. Some riders though complained of delays and equipment malfunctions on the line's first day of service, though by Thursday some of the problems had already been corrected.

If you'd like to see what the fuss is about, then check out the video below from one of CNN's "iReporters", who filmed his ride on the line from one end to the other and then sped the video up so that you're traveling about 800mph (keep in mind, the real Metro doesn't travel nearly this fast).