The UAE finally has a passenger train, and it's opening up parts of the country most visitors never see. Etihad Rail launched its first passenger services on June 30, 2026, and four stations are already running: Mohamed Bin Zayed City and Al Hilal City in Fujairah, Al Yalayis in Dubai, and Al Dhaid in Sharjah. Two more Abu Dhabi desert stations — Liwa and Madinat Zayed — join on November 30, with a Sharjah University City stop in central Sharjah due in March 2027.
The headline route is Abu Dhabi to Fujairah in just one hour 45 minutes, swapping skyscrapers for the Hajar Mountains and the Gulf of Oman. At the east coast's Al Hilal City station, you're ten minutes from Palace Beach Resort on the Corniche, with snorkelling off Snoopy Island at Al Aqah, hiking in the Hajar Mountains, and heritage stops like Al Bidya Mosque and Fujairah Fort all nearby. Kalba further down the coast is adding Al Hiyar Lake, a Shell Theatre accessed by underwater corridor, and a mountaintop venue called Above The Clouds from December.
On the Dubai side, the Al Yalayis station sits at Jumeirah Golf Estates — handy if you're in town for the DP World Tour Championship, which runs November 12–15. It also links Dubai directly with Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Fujairah, so you can base yourself at somewhere like FIVE Jumeirah Village (rooms from Dhs310) and day-trip by rail.
The new desert stations are the real draw for winter. Liwa puts you at the northern edge of the Empty Quarter: dune bashing, sandboarding, stargazing, and pool villas at Bab Al Nojoum Bateen Liwa from Dhs535.50. The Liwa International Festival returns December 11 to January 2 with live music and cultural events. Madinat Zayed is the gateway to Al Dhafra, with five-star desert stays at Aldhafra Resort from Dhs480 and excursions to the Moreeb Dunes, among the tallest in the Middle East. The 20th Al Dhafra Festival runs October 27 to January 12, complete with camel beauty pageants and over Dhs97 million in prize money.
In Sharjah, Al Dhaid is currently the emirate's only rail stop, and it's a good one — 15 minutes from Sharjah Safari with its 120-plus species, and close to Mleiha, a UNESCO-recognised site holding over 210,000 years of human history. Moon Retreat offers glamping domes with private pools from Dhs1,757 a night.
Why it matters: until now, exploring the UAE without a car meant expensive taxis or intercity buses. The train makes multi-emirate itineraries — desert one day, mountains and beaches the next — genuinely easy, and it opens up the Empty Quarter and Al Dhafra to travellers who'd never attempt the drive.
