Etihad Rail Is Now Open: Everything You Need to Know About the UAE's New Passenger Train

On June 30, 2026, the UAE ran its first passenger train. Abu Dhabi to Fujairah, about 1 hour 45 minutes, on a network that has been carrying freight since 2016. For a country where almost every intercity trip happens by car, this is a genuinely different thing.

This covers what Etihad Rail actually is, where it goes, how much it costs, and what's still coming.

What is Etihad Rail?

The short version: it's the UAE's national railway. Construction started in 2009, and the first section opened in 2016, a 264 km freight line moving sulphur from gas fields in Shah and Habshan down to the port of Ruwais. Not glamorous, but it worked and it ran on time.

Stage Two in 2023 extended the network to 900 km, running from Ghuweifat on the Saudi border across to Fujairah on the east coast. That whole stretch has been hauling freight since then. Millions of tonnes of goods, 148,000 containers in 2025 alone, and somewhere north of 500,000 truck journeys removed from UAE roads as a result.

The passenger service uses the same rail. The difference now is stations, trains built for people, and a ticketing system. Same tracks, different passengers.

The Route

The full network runs about 900 km and will eventually connect 11 cities and regions. The line goes west to east:

Al Sila → Al Dhannah → Al Mirfa → Madinat Zayed → Mezairaa → Abu Dhabi (Mohamed Bin Zayed City) → Al Faya → Dubai (Jumeirah Golf Estates) → Al Dhaid → Sharjah (University City) → Fujairah (Al Hilal)

Al Sila is right on the Saudi border. Fujairah is the east coast. That's the whole country on one line.

Stations: What's Open and What Isn't Yet

As of July 2026:

Right now, two stations are open. If you want to catch a train today, it's Abu Dhabi or Fujairah. Dubai comes in September.

Abu Dhabi to Dubai

The route most people care about. Journey time: 57 minutes. By car that's usually 90 minutes minimum, more during peak hours.

Dubai's station is at Jumeirah Golf Estates, off Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road in the south of the city. About 30 minutes from Al Maktoum International Airport. Etihad Rail has also confirmed it will connect to Dubai's metro Gold Line at Jumeirah Golf Estates and Meydan once that's running.

That station opens September 30.

Abu Dhabi to Fujairah: The One That's Already Running

Abu Dhabi (Mohamed Bin Zayed City) to Fujairah (Al Hilal), 1 hour 45 minutes. This is the inaugural route, running since June 30.

Fujairah's station is large, over 51,000 square metres, and about 12 minutes from Fujairah International Airport. Cafes, retail, automated ticketing, and passenger services are already in place.

How to Book

Through the Etihad Rail app or website. If you use a NOL card for Dubai Metro, Etihad Rail and the RTA have signed an agreement to eventually integrate NOL into rail ticketing. One card for both, at some point.

Etihad Rail official ticketing - CLICK HERE

What Does It Cost?

For the Abu Dhabi to Fujairah route, introductory fares:

1. Comfort class: AED 55
2. Premium class: AED 120

Three booking tiers within each class: Saver, Value, and Flex, depending on whether you need to change your booking. Pricing for other routes including Abu Dhabi to Dubai hasn't been published yet.

At AED 55 for that first route, it compares reasonably against the cost of driving once you factor in fuel and tolls.

What's Still to Come

A few things worth watching:

High-speed Abu Dhabi to Dubai line. A separate project, announced in early 2025. Not the same as the current passenger service. This one will run at up to 350 km/h over 150 km and cut the Abu Dhabi to Dubai trip to 30 minutes. Expected around 2030.

Hafeet Rail. Etihad Rail, Oman Rail, and Mubadala are building a 303 km cross-border line from Abu Dhabi to Sohar Port in Oman, passing through Al Ain. Estimated travel time: 1 hour 40 minutes.

GCC Railway. The western section of Etihad Rail already touches the Saudi border at Ghuweifat. The long-term plan connects all six GCC countries by rail. Still a long way off, but the physical foundation is there.

The 2030 target is 36.5 million passengers per year.

What This Means for Workers and Industry

Not everyone reading this is a commuter. Etihad Rail's freight network already moves construction materials, containers, and industrial goods between major ports, Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port, Jebel Ali in Dubai, Fujairah, and inland industrial zones. That side of the operation has been running for years and takes real volume off UAE roads.

The passenger service matters for the tens of thousands of workers who travel between Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the northern emirates for construction, logistics, and oil and gas projects. Long drives between job sites in summer heat, done regularly, add up. A predictable train connection with consistent timing is worth something in that context.

Projects of this scale, building 900 km of rail across desert, coastal, and mountain terrain, also carry significant demands on site safety. The workers who built this network, and who will maintain it, operate under some of the more demanding PPE and safety requirements in the region.

Quick Facts

Conclusion

The freight network has been running for a decade. The passenger service launched three weeks ago. Dubai comes in September, the western Abu Dhabi stations in December, Sharjah in early 2027. It's a rollout, not a switch being flipped, but the first train ran and it ran on time.

For the construction and industrial sector, this connects job sites across the country in ways road travel doesn't. Border Safety Wears supplies PPE and safety equipment to contractors and project teams working across UAE infrastructure, including the kind of rail-corridor and industrial zone work that Etihad Rail's network runs through.