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Dubai Living, public transport
Fares, zones, headways, and the Nol card system that ties the network together. Source: Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai 2026 fare schedule. Last reviewed 2026-05-09.
The Dubai Metro carried 287 million passengers in 2025, making it the longest fully driverless metro line in the world by length and by ridership. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) operates the metro, the Dubai Tram, the Marine network (water taxis, abras, ferries), and the bus fleet of more than 1,500 vehicles. A single fare card, the Nol, works across every mode. The Expo 2020 extension of the Red Line opened in 2022 and connected Jebel Ali to Expo City; further extensions to Mira and Mirdif are committed by 2030.
Two main lines run the city: the Red Line from Centrepoint in the north-east to UAE Exchange near Jebel Ali, and the Green Line from Etisalat to Creek through the Bur Dubai and Deira heritage districts. The Route 2020 extension off the Red Line carries seven additional stations toward Expo City. Together, the network covers 90 kilometres and 62 stations. Peak headways run 3 to 8 minutes; off-peak headways stretch to 12 minutes after 22:00. Trains run from 05:00 to 00:00 Monday through Thursday, extending to 01:00 on Friday and Saturday, with a later 08:00 start on Sunday.
The 10.6-kilometre Dubai Tram threads the Marina, JBR, and Al Sufouh districts, with two interchanges to the metro (Damac Properties and Jumeirah Lakes Towers) and one to the Palm Jumeirah Monorail (Palm Jumeirah station). Eleven stations on a single loop, peak headways 6 to 12 minutes. Tram cars carry the same Gold-class cabins as the metro and accept the same Nol fare structure.
RTA bus routes cover the parts of Dubai the rail network does not reach, with feeder buses dedicated to every metro station. Cycle racks fit on the front of every Dubai bus. Across the Creek and along the canal, the abra (a traditional motorised wooden boat) connects Bur Dubai to Deira for a flat AED 1 fare paid in cash. Modern water taxis run from the Creek to JBR for AED 50 per zone, and the RTA ferry runs an evening sightseeing route between Al Ghubaiba and Marina Mall.
Nol is the contactless smart card that opens the gates on every RTA mode. Four classes exist. The Silver card is the everyday default: AED 25 deposit (with AED 19 travel credit at first issue), eligible for daily caps. The Blue card is personalised and gives a 50 percent discount to students and over-60s. The Gold card carries the same AED 25 deposit but lets you ride in the dedicated Gold cabin of the metro and tram at double the standard fare. The Red ticket is the paper option for one-day visitors, capped at 10 trips and not eligible for the daily fare cap.
Walking-distance metro access drives a 8 to 14 percent rental premium per square foot in Dubai, all else equal. The exception is freehold communities deliberately built off the metro grid (Arabian Ranches, Mirdif, Al Furjan) where the family-buyer profile values gardens and schools over rail. Use Dubai areas to compare metro-adjacent versus garden communities, or start at the Dubai property hub to filter by lifestyle.
| Line | Stations | Length | Endpoints | Peak headway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Line | 35 | 52 km | Centrepoint to UAE Exchange | 3 to 8 minutes peak |
| Green Line | 20 | 23 km | Etisalat to Creek | 4 to 10 minutes peak |
| Route 2020 (Red Line extension) | 7 | 15 km | Jebel Ali to Expo City | 5 to 10 minutes peak |
Operating hours: 05:00 to 00:00 Mon-Thu, 05:00 to 01:00 Fri-Sat, 08:00 to 00:00 Sun.
| Trip type | Standard | Silver Nol | Blue Nol | Gold class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red zone (long) | 7.50 | 6.00 | 6.00 | 12.00 |
| Two zones | 5.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 8.00 |
| One zone | 3.00 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 5.00 |
| Tram (single ride) | 3.00 | - | - | 6.00 |
| Bus (single ride) | 3.00 | - | - | 6.00 |
| Daily cap | 14.00 | - | - | 28.00 |
| Card | Deposit (AED) | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | 25 | Standard public transport, eligible for daily caps |
| Gold | 25 | Gold-class metro and gold-class tram cabin, double fare |
| Blue | 70 | Personalised, students and seniors discount |
| Red | 0 | Paper ticket, single-day visitors, capped at 10 trips |
Single fares are zone-based. One zone is AED 3.00 with a Silver Nol card, AED 2.50 with a Blue Nol card, and AED 6.00 in Gold class. Two zones is AED 5.00 (AED 4.00 Blue), and the long Red-zone fare is AED 7.50 (AED 6.00 Blue). The daily cap on Silver and Blue is AED 14.00 across metro, tram, and bus combined.
Nol cards are sold at every metro station vending machine, every RTA Customer Service Centre, and at most Carrefour and ENOC outlets. Top up at vending machines, on the Nol app, on the RTA Dubai app, or at any retail point that displays the Nol logo. The minimum top-up is AED 5.00; the maximum balance is AED 1,000. A Silver card holds a deposit of AED 25 (AED 19 of which is travel credit at first issue).
Yes, the metro and tram run their normal hours during Ramadan. The bus network runs as normal except on the night of the moon-sighting announcement. Eating and drinking on platforms and inside trains is prohibited from Fajr to Maghrib during the holy month, with on-the-spot fines of AED 100 for non-compliance.
No, but they are competitive once two or more people share. A 5-kilometre RTA taxi is roughly AED 22 to AED 26 with the AED 12 starting flag-fall and AED 1.96 per kilometre. The same trip on the metro is AED 3 to AED 5 per person on a Silver Nol. Above three passengers, taxi share economics often beat the metro daily cap.
Downtown Dubai (Burj Khalifa station), Business Bay (one walking-distance station), Dubai Marina (Damac Properties station and the tram), Jumeirah Lake Towers (DMCC station), Dubai Internet City, Al Barsha (Mall of the Emirates and Sharaf DG), and Bur Dubai (BurJuman, ADCB, Al Fahidi). Communities not on the metro grid (Arabian Ranches, Mirdif, Jumeirah Park) carry a measurable rental discount per square foot versus their on-grid equivalents.
Javier Sanz Alvarez
Licensed agent, RERA and DLD registered.12+ years in Dubai real estate, private equity and investment banking. 12+ years in Dubai real estate, private equity and investment banking.
Last reviewed 2026-05-09 by Javier Sanz Alvarez, RERA BRN 1573501, DLD Broker Card 92025. Oliva is a licensed Dubai brokerage. We update this page when the underlying data changes; if you spot something out of date, let us know.