The United Arab Emirates is preparing to shift a significant share of its tourism traffic from highways to rail tracks as Etihad Rail’s national passenger network moves toward launch in 2026.

For the first time, visitors will be able to cross the federation from Gulf coast cities to desert oases and the Hajar Mountains by train, opening new tourism corridors and reshaping how travelers experience the country beyond airport hubs and urban skylines.

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A New Spine Connecting City Skylines and Sand Dunes

Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE’s national railway, has confirmed that the opening phase of its passenger services will link Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah, creating what officials describe as the network’s initial spine. Passenger operations are scheduled to start in 2026, gradually expanding to connect 11 cities and regions through 13 trains running at up to 200 kilometers per hour. This will be the UAE’s first fully integrated intercity passenger rail system.

Journey times on the core corridor are designed to be competitive with, and in many cases faster than, road travel. Preliminary timings released by Etihad Rail and reported by local media indicate the Abu Dhabi to Dubai trip will take around 57 minutes, with Abu Dhabi to Fujairah estimated at roughly 1 hour 45 minutes. Travel to Al Ruwais on the western coast is expected to take around 1 hour 10 minutes. These schedules are intended to cut typical driving times by between 30 and 40 percent, while offering a more predictable alternative to congested highways.

The network builds on the country’s existing freight railway, which already links key industrial and logistics hubs. For passengers, however, the shift is more than an infrastructure upgrade. It marks a strategic push to diversify the tourism offer, drawing travelers out of airport duty free zones and city malls into desert interiors, university districts, historic trading towns and coastal resorts that were previously practical only by car.

Stations Curated Around Tourism and Everyday Mobility

Etihad Rail has been careful to frame its station planning as a tourism and lifestyle decision as much as a transport one. The first four announced passenger stations are in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah. Subsequent announcements added locations such as Al Sila, Al Dhannah, Al Mirfa, Madinat Zayed, Mezaira’a, Al Faya and Al Dhaid, creating a chain that runs from the Saudi border region in the west to the Gulf of Oman in the east.

Within the major cities, station sites are being positioned to dovetail with existing tourism and residential clusters. In Abu Dhabi, the first passenger hub will rise in Mohamed bin Zayed City, a fast growing suburb with direct highway links into downtown cultural landmarks such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Corniche. In Dubai, the main station is planned close to Jumeirah Golf Estates, plugging into one of the city’s large master planned communities and sitting within reach of Dubai Marina, Expo City and the emerging Al Maktoum International Airport district.

Sharjah’s station will be located near University City, placing students and academics within rail reach of other emirates while giving visitors an easy gateway to Sharjah’s museums, heritage zones and cultural festivals. In Fujairah, the Sakamkam station is being developed near the Al Hilal and Umbrella Beach area, a fast developing waterfront that tourism officials hope will benefit from weekend and holiday rail traffic originating in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Beyond the big four, stations in Al Dhaid, Madinat Zayed, Al Mirfa and Mezaira’a are strategically mapped to open up lesser known landscapes. Al Dhaid is a gateway to Sharjah’s interior farms and desert camps, while Madinat Zayed and Mezaira’a sit deep in the Al Dhafra region, close to dune fields and traditional Bedouin areas. For tour operators, these stops give structure to new multi day itineraries that combine city hotels with rail linked desert experiences.

From Road Trips to Rail Journeys Across Diverse Landscapes

For years, the classic UAE domestic getaway consisted of a highway drive from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Fujairah’s beaches or to the desert resorts scattered around Al Ain and Al Dhafra. With Etihad Rail’s passenger services, tourism authorities are preparing for a shift in how residents and visitors plan excursions, with rail replacing the car as the backbone of multi stop journeys.

Officials who have ridden test trains describe itineraries where passengers wake up in Abu Dhabi, check into a morning service to Dubai for shopping or business meetings, then continue by afternoon train through the desert and into the Hajar Mountains en route to Fujairah. The line is expected to offer panoramic views of golden dunes in Abu Dhabi’s interior, greenery around desert conservation areas, and the dramatic rock formations that frame the approach to the east coast. Rail planners argue that those changing vistas will themselves become part of the tourism product, turning transit into a curated sightseeing experience.

The new network could also normalize casual cross emirate tourism. The anticipated sub one hour journey between Abu Dhabi and Dubai is designed to make it just as easy to attend a concert, exhibition or sports match in a neighboring emirate as it is to cross a large metropolitan area by metro. When extended services reach Al Sila on the western border and the mountain side towns to the east, weekend trips by train could become a staple of resident life, helping to distribute tourism spending more evenly across the federation.

In the longer term, rail planners and tourism strategists are aligning the national network with future cross border lines to Oman and Saudi Arabia. A separate high speed rail project is under study to cut Abu Dhabi Dubai journey times to around 30 minutes, with regional links envisioned to connect the UAE’s stations to wider Gulf rail corridors. For international visitors, that could eventually mean arriving in the Gulf via Doha, Riyadh or Muscat and reaching UAE destinations by rail rather than short haul flights.

Tourism Industry Gears Up for a Rail Age

Hotels, tour operators and destination management companies across the UAE are already working to adapt their offerings to rail based travel. In cities, properties near planned stations are positioning themselves as rail hubs with shuttle services, luggage handling packages and check in times aligned to train timetables. Coastal resorts in Fujairah and on the western shores are designing weekend packages built explicitly around Etihad Rail’s journey times, marketing the idea of a “car free escape” from urban centers.

Desert resorts, especially in the Al Dhafra region, see an opportunity to capture travelers who might previously have opted for a shorter drive to closer venues. By bundling train tickets with transfers from inland stations such as Madinat Zayed or Mezaira’a, operators can offer multi day experiences that include dune drives, star gazing, falconry displays and heritage walks without asking guests to spend hours behind the wheel. For overseas visitors, rail access could make it easier to incorporate desert stays into tightly scheduled stopovers.

Travel agencies in markets such as Europe and Asia are also watching the rail rollout closely, with some already sketching out UAE itineraries that resemble classic rail tours elsewhere in the world. Sample concepts include three city trips that move from Abu Dhabi’s cultural attractions to Dubai’s entertainment districts and on to Fujairah’s diving sites, or themed journeys that link university campuses, art venues and eco tourism projects. The ability to sell a “city to desert to sea” trip on one national rail ticket may give UAE packages a new narrative edge in a competitive global tourism market.

For cruise tourism, rail may become an essential connector. With Abu Dhabi and Dubai hosting major cruise terminals and Fujairah an important call for some itineraries, a reliable intercity train system gives cruise lines a way to extend shore excursions inland, including to Sharjah’s cultural quarter or Al Dhafra’s desert festivals, within fixed port call windows.

Inside the Trains: Comfort, Connectivity and Classes

To appeal to both daily commuters and international visitors, Etihad Rail’s passenger trains are being equipped with amenities that mirror modern European intercity services. Each train is expected to carry up to 400 passengers across multiple classes of service. Interiors are being designed with ergonomic seating, onboard Wi Fi, individual power outlets, and entertainment options aimed at both business travelers and tourists.

The operator has emphasized a focus on reliability and safety, highlighting that test runs and certification for much of the fleet have been completed. Services will operate on fixed schedules, and stations are planned with interchanges to metro lines, bus networks and taxi ranks where available. In Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority has begun integrating feeder buses and taxi services into master plans for the main Etihad Rail station to ensure last mile connectivity for both residents and visitors.

Ticketing is another area where tourism planners see potential for integration. Etihad Rail has signed agreements with local transport authorities to allow the use of existing smart cards, such as Dubai’s nol card, on the rail network, alongside conventional ticketing. That approach could make it easier for tourists to move from metro to intercity train to tram or bus with a single stored value card, simplifying itineraries that span multiple emirates.

Crucially for tourism markets that value premium experiences, Etihad Rail has previewed higher service classes with wider seats and enhanced onboard catering. Business and potential first class sections are expected to target corporate travelers shuttling between conferences in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as well as leisure guests seeking a quieter, more spacious ride to resorts and cultural destinations.

Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts on the Tourism Landscape

While Etihad Rail’s passenger network is framed primarily as a mobility project, its ripple effects on tourism are expected to be extensive. The company and government officials forecast that by 2030 the passenger services could carry around 36 million people per year, a figure that includes domestic commuters and foreign visitors alike. That volume, distributed across stations from Al Sila to Fujairah, stands to inject new demand into hotels, restaurants and attractions located far from traditional tourism corridors.

The environmental argument is equally central to the rail narrative. By shifting a portion of inter emirate travel from private vehicles and short haul flights to electric powered trains, the UAE hopes to reduce emissions associated with tourism and domestic travel. For destination marketers, the ability to offer lower carbon itineraries is becoming a valuable selling point, particularly in European markets where travelers are increasingly factoring sustainability into booking decisions.

The project is also expected to support job creation, with thousands of roles linked to the construction, operation and maintenance of the network, and many more in ancillary tourism services. New employment opportunities in smaller cities and desert regions could encourage population retention and investment outside the major coastal centers, reinforcing the social and cultural fabric that underpins the UAE’s tourism appeal.

Socially, easier inter emirate travel has the potential to deepen residents’ familiarity with landscapes and communities they might otherwise rarely visit. Tourism authorities often stress that domestic tourism is not just an economic tool but a way to build shared narratives about heritage sites, conservation areas and emerging creative districts. In that sense, every passenger using Etihad Rail for a weekend break in a different emirate becomes part of a larger project of internal discovery.

Positioning the UAE in the Gulf’s Emerging Rail Tourism Map

The UAE’s passenger railway is taking shape at a time when other Gulf states are also investing heavily in rail connectivity, from Saudi Arabia’s high speed lines to Qatar’s regional link projects. Within this emerging ecosystem, Etihad Rail’s passenger services are seen as a platform for the UAE to position itself as a base for rail themed tourism in the wider region.

Future connections to Oman via the Hafeet Rail project, and potential onward links to networks in Saudi Arabia, could create itineraries that span deserts, mountains and coasts across multiple countries without relying entirely on air travel. For international tour operators that specialize in rail journeys, the prospect of selling Gulf routes that bundle multiple cultures and landscapes is a compelling addition to existing portfolios dominated by Europe and Asia.

For now, attention is fixed on the 2026 launch window and the practicalities of getting the first passengers onto trains between Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah. As stations rise from the sand in Mohamed bin Zayed City, Jumeirah Golf Estates, University City and Sakamkam, hoteliers, guides and tourism boards are recalibrating their maps. In the years ahead, the tracks running from urban skylines to remote deserts are set to redraw how visitors and residents alike experience the UAE.