Riding the Dubai Metro for the First Time: Lines, Timings, and the Fines Nobody Warns You About

Published August 30, 2026

The Dubai Metro is driverless, air-conditioned, mostly elevated, and — this matters in a city built around highways — often the fastest way across town. It’s also policed with a precision that surprises first-timers: there is a published fine for eating, for sitting in the wrong cabin, for putting your feet up. This magazine spent years being handed out at metro stations, so consider this a homecoming brief. (The full heritage story is in our archive.)

Two lines, two interchanges

The Red Line runs the length of the city along Sheikh Zayed Road, between Centrepoint (near the airport) and Expo 2020, with a branch to Life Pharmacy station. The Green Line loops through the older city — Deira and Bur Dubai — between e& and Creek. They meet at exactly two stations: Union and BurJuman. If your journey needs both lines, you’re changing at one of those. The Red Line also connects to the Dubai Tram at Sobha Realty and DMCC stations, and a third line — the Blue Line, 30 km and 14 stations — is under construction with completion scheduled for 2029.

Trains stop at every station; there are no express services. Station names are announced in Arabic and English, and the RTA’s S’hail app plans door-to-door journeys.

When it runs

The one that catches people: Sunday trains start at 08:00, not 05:00. If you’ve got an early Sunday flight, the metro won’t be running when you need it. Hours can extend on public holidays; check before you plan around the edges.

Exact first and last departures from the terminal stations, taken from RTA’s official timetable PDF (revision December 15, 2025 — last-train times at intermediate stations are later than these terminal departures, so treat the table as the safe planning window):

Red Line — Expo 2020 ⇄ Centrepoint

Green Line — e& ⇄ Creek

Dubai Tram — Al Sufouh ⇄ Jumeirah Lakes Towers (same PDF, tram sheet revision October 2022): Monday–Saturday first tram 6:00 from Al Sufouh (6:26 from JLT), last departures 0:24/0:50; Sunday 9:00/9:26 with last departures 0:20/0:46.

On Friday the Red Line runs roughly an hour later than the rest of the week, and the Green Line crosses midnight — the airport stations sit on the Red Line, so plan late arrivals around the Red Line column, not the Green.

Cabins: Gold, women and children, everyone else

Each train has a Gold Class cabin at one end — leather seats, panoramic glass, double the regular fare, and only for Gold Nol card holders. Next to it sits the women and children cabin, marked on the platform floor and doors. Men who wander in, even accidentally at rush hour, are committing the “accessing areas designated for specific categories” violation — an AED 100 fine, and inspectors do work the trains. Everything else is general seating. Check which end of the platform you need before the train arrives; walking through a packed train is its own punishment.

You’ll need a Nol card with at least AED 7.50 on it to get through the gate — our Nol guide covers which card to buy and why the minimum-balance rule exists.

The fines, specifically

RTA publishes its penalty list, and the numbers are worth knowing cold. As of 2026: eating or drinking where it’s not allowed is AED 100 — that includes the coffee you carried through the gate. Feet on seats, AED 100. Bringing an animal (guide dogs excepted), AED 100. Traveling without paying the fare, or failing to present your card to an inspector, AED 200. Smoking, spitting, or littering, AED 200. Sleeping in passenger shelters, AED 300. Carrying alcohol — even sealed, in a shopping bag — AED 500. Vandalism or misusing emergency equipment runs to AED 2,000. None of these are theoretical; the metro has a dedicated police force and more than 3,000 cameras.

Luggage and kids

You’re allowed two suitcases: one large (up to 81 × 58 × 30 cm) and one small (55 × 38 × 20 cm), stowed in the luggage area in each cabin — relevant if you’re taking the Red Line from the airport, which is exactly what we’d suggest on a layover. Children under 8 can’t ride unaccompanied; ages 8–11 need a parental permit; from 12 they can travel alone.

Etiquette that’s actually enforced culture

Let passengers off before boarding, move into the cabin, don’t block the platform queue lines — Dubai commuters follow these with unusual discipline, and the announcements repeat them constantly. Stand on the right on escalators, and don’t rush the closing doors; the trains come every few minutes at peak.

More on getting around the city — buses, trams, abras, and the rest — in our transport section.

Photo: Pexels

More practical Dubai how-tos: all guides · more in Transport.