Dubai Metro is one of the most ambitious and large-scale infrastructure projects in the history of the city. Construction of its initial phase was completed in just four years, with the grand launch of its first stations taking place in 2009. The grand opening of Dubai Metro itself was a remarkable event, taking place at exactly 09:09:09 PM on the 9th of September, 2009, with the launch of Red Line (52.1km). The Green Line (22.5km) began operations in the following year, on October 13, 2010.
Today, Dubai Metro acts as a core of the Public Transport infrastructure controlled by the Road and Transport Authority (RTA). All the other branches of public transportation, like the Dubai Tram, taxi, public buses, and water taxis, were subsequently aligned to the metro stations for maximum efficiency and convenience. All types of public transport can be accessed with a single card called the NOL card, which can be purchased and topped up on every metro station.
At the root of the idea of creating a Metro network in Dubai was His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The idea was based on his strategic vision for the development of public transport in Dubai and the constant growth of its share in the total passenger traffic.
For seven years, the Dubai Metro has occupied the position of the longest driverless metro rail transport system in the world, before giving its first place to Vancouver SkyTrain and Singapore MRT in 2016.
At that time, driverless transport was a fairly new phenomenon for many people in the region. And in the early months of the Dubai Metro operations, the lack of a driver even frightened some passengers. Only after the metro employee was placed in the front cabin, many passengers calmed down and passenger traffic increased several times.
The Dubai Metro is not only a marvel of modern engineering, it is also unique and unusual in terms of exterior and interior design. Its notable feature is that only half of its length was built underground (mostly beneath the dense areas of Bur Dubai and Deira), and the other half being an overground line. This is why tourists should definitely take a ride on the Metro around the city to get an unusual experience of enjoying the cityscape of Dubai. Guests of the city will definitely appreciate the huge window panels through which beautiful views open.
Timing should be noted, however, as the Metro becomes quite busy during the rush hours early in the morning and around 06:00 PM every working day.
First-class sections with more comfortable conditions are available for passengers. There are also separate sections for women and children. Both the stations themselves and the carriages are equipped with air conditioning, passengers can use Wi-Fi at any point on the route, and mobile communication is also available to them.
Another convenient feature that makes Dubai Metro so enjoyable is it’s air-conditioned bridges interconnection with many important destinations around Dubai, like The World Trade Centre, Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Airport (Terminal 1 and 3), and Dubai Tram system in the Dubai Marina area.
The interiors of the most notable stations are made in different design themes. In total, five topics were used: Heritage, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The theme of the station is reminiscent of color schemes and decor elements.
Many stations are named either after the area in which they are located, or after an important historical figure (like Salah Al Din Station). Another unusual practice for the metro stations in Dubai is that commercial enterprises can buy the name of the station from the authorities and even name it, getting excellent advertising for their brands. Many stations have already been named this way, for example, Sharaf DG and UAE Exchange.
The Dubai Metro is currently more than 90 km in length. It consists of two lines – the Red Line, which has 28 stations, and the Green Line with 18 stations. There is also a 15 km long Red Line extension of another 7 stations called Route 2020 towards the Expo City (formerly Expo 2020 site).
Today the network spans 120 km with 67 stations, counting the Red Line, the Green Line, Route 2020 and the Blue Line, which is still under construction. Two new lines and several smaller extensions are now in the pipeline.
The AED 20.5 billion Blue Line was approved in November 2023, broke ground in June 2025 and is scheduled to open in September 2029. It is 30 km long with 14 stations, and the Creek branch (21 km, 10 stations) and the Centrepoint branch (9 km, 4 stations) merge at International City 1. The line links to the Red Line at Centrepoint and to the Green Line at Creek Station. About half of the route, 15.5 km, runs underground.
The Creek branch is the most interesting part for the city’s east side. It starts at Creek Interchange in Al Jaddaf, then runs through Dubai Festival City, Dubai Creek Harbour and Ras Al Khor to International City, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Academic City. The Centrepoint branch serves Mirdif and Al Warqa.
Dubai Creek Harbour. The district gets its own flagship station, officially called Emaar Properties Station. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and will rise 74 m, which would make it the tallest metro station in the world. The deep foundations of the station are already 100% complete. It is expected to serve Creek Harbour’s projected 40,000 residents, plus visitors. The route to the station involves a major engineering feat. The line will cross the water on a 1.3 km bridge, the first water crossing in the Dubai Metro network. Other new stations in the area are Dubai Festival City and Ras Al Khor.
Progress. Tunnelling began in May 2026 from International City 1, with tunnel boring machines heading towards Mirdif, Auto Market and Al Warsan. By September 2026 the project was reported to be about 25% complete, with the RTA targeting 30% by the end of the year. The line will use driverless trains with platform-screen doors and signalling designed for two-minute intervals between trains. The trip from Creek to Academic City is expected to take about 25 minutes.
In April 2026 Dubai approved an even bigger project. The Gold Line will cost AED 34 billion, with the opening scheduled for 9 September 2032. It is 42 km long with 18 stations, runs about 40 m deep and is planned to serve 1.5 million residents and connect 55 major developments. The route runs from Al Ghubaiba to Jumeirah Golf Estates, passing through areas such as Bur Dubai, Jumeirah, Satwa, Al Barsha South, JVT, JVC and Dubai Sports City. It will interchange with the Green Line at Al Ghubaiba, the Red Line at Business Bay and Jumeirah Golf Estates, and with Etihad Rail at Meydan and Jumeirah Golf Estates. The RTA expects it to ease congestion by 23% on the Red Line section between BurJuman and ONPASSIVE. Together with the Blue Line, it would bring the network to 162 km and 85 stations.
The RTA is also planning to connect Dubai’s two airports. The proposed Airport Express Line would be 55 km long with five stations, running from the Red Line station at DXB through Al Jaddaf and along Al Khail Road to JVC and on to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in Dubai South. Six consultancy groups have bid for the design contract, and no timeframe has been confirmed yet. The line could offer remote airline check-in, baggage drop-off and security screening at metro stations. Separately, the RTA has tendered the design of a roughly 3 km Route 2020 extension with two stations, from Expo City to the West Terminal of Al Maktoum Airport.
All of this is part of the long-term plan of making the metro the backbone of Dubai’s transport, tied into Etihad Rail and the new airport. Dubai has said passenger operations will progressively shift from DXB to DWC, with the first phase expected by 2032.
