Representative ImageThe Middle East’s transport story has long been written in airport terminals. Now, railway stations are beginning to claim a larger role. The clearest evidence has emerged in the UAE, where Etihad Rail sold more than 70,000 passenger tickets in little over a month. Advance reservations are running close to two weeks ahead, suggesting that the country’s first national passenger service is moving quickly beyond launch-day curiosity and into regular travel plans.
The Abu Dhabi–Fujairah route began operating on 30 June. More than 10,000 tickets had already been sold before the first scheduled departure, while the three inaugural services were fully booked. Trains carry up to 400 passengers and cover the journey in 105 minutes, with introductory fares starting at AED55.
For a region built around private cars and short-haul aviation, the response matters. Rail is beginning to offer something neither mode delivers comfortably: predictable intercity travel without highway congestion, airport processing or the cost of maintaining a car at the destination.
A tourism corridor takes shape
The first route also connects two very different parts of the UAE economy. Abu Dhabi is a government, commercial and cultural centre; Fujairah brings beaches, mountains, diving and a growing resort market. Rail turns that pairing into a practical day trip or weekend break.
Fujairah’s tourism authorities expect the service to encourage more domestic holidays, family visits and short-stay travel, while improving access for overseas visitors already based elsewhere in the UAE. The emirate could also attract fresh hotel and tourism investment as passenger volumes build.
That creates a new sales channel for tour operators, destination management companies and hotels. A rail fare can be packaged with a resort stay, attraction ticket or guided experience without the expense of a domestic flight or private transfer. Shorter trips become easier to sell. So do multi-emirate itineraries.
The commercial effect will depend partly on the connections beyond the station. Etihad Rail has worked with Abu Dhabi Mobility to link passengers with buses, taxis and other local services. This first-and-last-mile provision will be decisive; a comfortable train loses much of its appeal when the station is difficult or expensive to reach. Transport specialists interviewed by The National identified station access as one of the network’s central operational challenges.
Saudi Arabia has already proved the market
Passenger rail is newer to the UAE, but it is hardly new to the region. Saudi Arabia’s Haramain High-Speed Railway has become integral to the movement of pilgrims between Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City. During the 2026 Hajj season, Saudi Arabia Railways increased capacity to more than 2.21 million seats across over 5,300 journeys, deploying 35 electric trains on the 453-kilometre route.
The Haramain line shows where rail is most competitive in the Middle East: heavily travelled corridors linking airports, population centres and major visitor destinations. It also demonstrates how railway capacity can support sharp seasonal peaks that would otherwise place greater pressure on roads, coaches and domestic aviation.
Its role is expanding beyond pilgrimage logistics. Saudi Arabia’s tourism strategy is pushing travel demand into more cities and across more of the year. Rail gives the kingdom another means of distributing those visitors, particularly as new hospitality, entertainment and cultural developments come on stream.
Cross-border travel is the bigger prize
The next stage is not merely national. The UAE and Oman are developing Hafeet Rail, a 238-kilometre cross-border network linking the two countries through Al Ain, Al Buraimi and Sohar. Construction reached 40 per cent completion in April, with work advancing across the Al Ain region, Al Buraimi, Sohar and Wadi Al Jizzi.
The project has been framed largely around freight, trade and supply-chain resilience. Its passenger potential is equally significant. A functioning UAE–Oman service would give tour operators a credible alternative to flights and long road transfers, making twin-country programmes easier to build around Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Sohar and, through onward connections, other Omani destinations.
It would also provide a working section of the long-discussed GCC railway. Regional rail integration has faced delays, technical differences and the complexity of coordinating six national systems. Progress remains uneven. Yet Hafeet Rail gives the wider plan something it has often lacked: a cross-border project under active construction.
For hotels and destination marketers, that could eventually create a Gulf version of the multi-country rail itinerary, though the comparison with Europe should not be pushed too far. Distances are longer, urban density is lower and stations must be connected to destinations designed largely around cars.
Rail joins the corporate travel mix
Business travel may prove just as important as leisure. On journeys of two or three hours, rail can compete effectively with air once airport transfers, check-in and security are counted. Guaranteed seating, Wi-Fi and power outlets also allow passengers to work during the trip. Travel management companies will need to bring rail inventory into booking platforms, approval systems and duty-of-care programmes. Hotels near stations may see demand shift, while meeting planners could draw delegates from a wider domestic catchment without adding flights.
The UAE network is still at an early stage. Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates station and Al Dhaid in Sharjah are due to open on 30 September, with 10 stations expected to be operating by the end of March 2027. Those openings will provide a better test than the inaugural route alone. They will show whether rail can win regular commuters, support corporate travel and generate sustained visitor flows rather than one-off demand.
Early ticket sales have answered the first question: passengers are willing to take the train. The business opportunity now rests on frequency, network reach and what awaits them when they step off the platform.
