For many travellers, the appeal is simple. You get your time back. Rather than driving and watching the road, you can read, rest or answer email. Professionals use the charging points on board to prepare for meetings on the way. Families sit together without the strain of traffic. Etihad Rail calls it a convenient and affordable way to move between emirates.

Adhraa Almansoori, executive director of commercial and support at Etihad Rail Mobility, said the aim is for passenger rail to become “a natural part of everyday life,” a service people return to for comfortable and reliable travel. She said the first month shows passengers trust the new option.

What it means that Etihad Rail sold 120,000 tickets

The fact that Etihad Rail sold 120,000 tickets in a single month matters most for what it signals about habit. Early curiosity fills seats once. Repeat travel fills them again and again. That Etihad Rail sold 120,000 tickets this fast suggests the train is shifting from novelty toward routine. The operator says the strong start reflects growing confidence in inter-emirate rail, and it plans to add capacity as demand builds.

Getting to and from the stations

The network was built to link with other transport, not to stand apart from it. At Dubai Al Yalayis Station, a pedestrian bridge leads straight to Jumeirah Golf Estates Metro Station, putting the Red Line within walking distance. In Abu Dhabi, shuttle buses run from Mohamed bin Zayed City Station to ADNOC headquarters on the Corniche, ADNEC Centre, Reem Mall and points across Yas Island. At the Al Dhaid and Fujairah stations, local transport providers help passengers reach the platform and carry on to their final stop. So the Etihad Rail stations work as one part of a wider door-to-door trip.

Fares, timings and the UAE passenger rail network ahead

Etihad Rail fares start low. Short hops from Al Dhaid to Fujairah begin at Dh19, and Dubai to Abu Dhabi starts at Dh39, which keeps the train within reach for regular use. Published Etihad Rail train timings run across the day, with several services in each direction, so you can plan a morning meeting or an evening trip home. The ride between Abu Dhabi and Dubai takes about 57 minutes. Abu Dhabi and Fujairah stations opened first during an introductory phase, and the official launch added Dubai Al Yalayis and Al Dhaid, joining all four cities on one line.

The UAE passenger rail network will keep expanding. New stations are planned for Liwa and Madinat Zayed, with other sites across the Al Dhafra Region, over the coming months. Almansoori frames the rollout as part of a wider effort to change how the country moves. News that Etihad Rail sold 120,000 tickets in its first month gives a clear read on demand, and the passengers filling those seats will decide how far the habit spreads.

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The site runs on a partnership between ROX and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office. It backs the company’s plan to base more of its work in the emirate, from supply chains to design. You can read the intent easily. Build the car near the buyer, and keep the value close to home.

Government support sits behind the project. The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology backs it through the Make it in the Emirates programme, which links to Operation 300Bn, the national plan to grow local industry and draw future-focused investment. Hasan Jasem Al Nowais, Undersecretary at the ministry, said the country has built a competitive industrial base rooted in innovation and advanced technology, and that the start of Made in the Emirates vehicles shows the UAE can attract and settle advanced industries at home.

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Inside Abu Dhabi automotive manufacturing

The plant covers 10,000 square metres inside the KEZAD Group zone. It handles local sub-assembly of more than 80 vehicle components, plus full assembly, calibration, rain testing, road testing, and a final check before delivery. Abu Dhabi automotive manufacturing gains real depth from that spread of work, since a car moves from loose parts to finished product in one place.

Capacity tells the growth story. Output of Made in the Emirates vehicles starts modest, then scales. The facility expects to build 20,000 cars in 2027. ROX plans to lift that toward 300,000 a year by 2030, feeding the local market while sending cars to regional and global buyers. Targets like these can slip, so treat the 2030 figure as a goal rather than a promise.

Mohammad Ali Al Kamali, Chief Trade and Industry Officer at the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, said industrial investment here turns into local production, deeper capability, and global reach. He pointed to the emirate’s infrastructure, connections, and partners as the base firms use to grow and compete.

ROX ADAMAS and the road ahead

ROX set up its global headquarters in Abu Dhabi last year, and UAE vehicle production now marks the next step. The company opened an AI Lab and a Design Studio in the emirate. That lab will develop the ROX AGENT AI platform, while the studio brings together designers from the UAE, China, and other markets.

A local design is coming. ROX plans to show its first UAE-designed car, the Abu Dhabi Edition, in March 2027. Its team draws on Khoos, the Emirati craft of weaving palm fronds, and works with the Design Commission in Abu Dhabi and Al Khaznah Leathers on the ROX ADAMAS Abu Dhabi Edition.

There is a road trip too. Two cars from the first UAE-built batch will leave Abu Dhabi for the second season of GRAND TOUR, crossing ten African countries before they reach Casablanca. These Made in the Emirates vehicles will travel through a wide mix of markets and conditions, and the run gives the badge its first long test far from home.

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Who governs the award?

Dubai Aviation City Corporation sits inside the emirate’s government, which means the money and the accountability are public. Joining MHI are MHI Mobility Engineering Services and the Indian engineering group Larsen and Toubro. The Japanese partners lead design, procurement and testing of the vehicles and signalling, plus overall system integration. L&T takes the remaining subsystems, from design through on-site construction.

Neither the corporation nor MHI has published a price. L&T has classified its portion as a large order under its own reporting bands, a range of 2,500 crore to 5,000 crore rupees, or somewhere between 280 million and 560 million dollars. The precise figure stays undisclosed. Delivery is being implemented through Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects. MHI is not a stranger here, having built the Dubai Metro, which opened in 2011.

The first phase is set at 150 million passengers

Capacity is the reason. Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) targets 260 million passengers a year in its final form, alongside 12 million tonnes of cargo, across a site of about 70 square kilometres with five parallel runways. Reaching that figure would make it the world’s largest airport by design capacity. The first phase is set at 150 million passengers, and the higher number is a long-term ceiling rather than an opening-day promise.

Dubai International handled 95.2 million passengers in 2025, its busiest year on record, and has almost no room left to stretch. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved the new passenger terminal and a 128 billion dirham budget in April 2024, about 35 billion dollars. The Al Maktoum International Airport expansion has been running through a series of contract awards since.

A benchmark set well above Dallas

The 50-kilometre network would run more than six times the length of the current leader, the roughly 8-kilometre SkyLink at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, the most heavily travelled airport in the world, carries around 91 million passengers a year and moves them internally on its Plane Train. Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) targets 260 million passengers over time, close to three times Atlanta’s present traffic. Transfers become the binding constraint at that scale. MHI says the system is meant to cut journey times inside the Dubai World Central airport, improve convenience and keep operations efficient as volumes climb.

Technology decisions held open

Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, has said the second phase is being designed around new technology and around convenience for travellers. He has spoken of building an airport experience like none other, and has indicated some equipment choices will be taken late in the programme, so newer systems can still be adopted. Keeping options open guards against obsolescence. It also loads risk onto the schedule, and on a public project of this size the timetable is the one measure outsiders can check without access to the books. The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries contract fixes one of the larger pieces early. Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) targets 260 million passengers, and the people mover decides whether an airport of that size works from the inside.

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