The Dubai Metro Blue Line is the biggest change to the city’s rail map since the Red Line opened in 2009 — and unlike the existing network, it is not built along Sheikh Zayed Road. It runs inland, into the residential districts that have spent fifteen years watching the metro pass them by. Here is the route, the numbers and the timeline.
The shape of the line
The Blue Line runs 30 kilometres with 14 stations, split between 15.5 km underground and 14.5 km elevated — nine elevated stations and five underground.
It is organised as two routes rather than a single end-to-end run:
| Route | Length | Stations | Serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Route 1 | 21 km | 10 | Creek (Al Jaddaf), Dubai Festival City, Dubai Creek Harbour, Ras Al Khor Industrial Area, International City 1, 2 and 3, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai Academic City |
| Route 2 | 9 km | 4 | Centrepoint (Al Rashidiya), Mirdif, Al Warqa, International City 1 |
Three stations are interchanges, and they are what make the line useful rather than merely long: Creek (also referred to as Al Khor) connects to the Green Line at Al Jaddaf, Centrepoint connects to the Red Line at Al Rashidiya, and International City 1 is a new underground interchange where the two Blue Line routes meet.
Who it is actually for
This is the part worth dwelling on. Mirdif, Al Warqa, International City, Dubai Silicon Oasis and Academic City are large, established, heavily residential districts that have never had rail. They are also, in the main, where people on middle incomes live — the population for whom a metro is a genuine alternative to a car rather than a novelty.
The RTA puts the districts served at nine, with an estimated population of around one million by 2040, and aligns the line with the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. Forecast ridership is about 200,000 passengers a day by 2030, rising to 320,000 by 2040, with capacity of 46,000 passengers an hour in both directions. The metro fleet grows from 140 to 157 trains.
The line also improves connectivity to Dubai International Airport, though it is worth being precise: the airport is listed among the areas the line connects, not as a station on either route.
The engineering
The Blue Line will be the first metro line to cross Dubai Creek, on a 1,300-metre viaduct. The signature structure is the Emaar Properties Station at Dubai Creek Harbour — 74 metres tall and 38 metres wide, described as the world’s highest metro station.
The contract, worth AED 20.5 billion, was awarded on 19 December 2024 to a consortium of MAPA and LIMAK of Türkiye, handling civil works, with CRRC of China on rail systems. It includes a depot and maintenance facility at Al Ruwayyah 3. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum laid the foundation stone in June 2025.
When it opens
The stated opening date is 9 September 2029 — the Dubai Metro’s twentieth anniversary, and a characteristically Dubai piece of date-setting.
On progress, we will quote only what has been published and date it. The project stood at 10% complete in November 2025 and 12% as at December 2025, against a target of 30% by the end of 2026. At that December review, the RTA described more than 3,000 workers and 500 engineers across 12 locations, over 4.6 million working hours, more than 260 deep foundations and over 400,000 cubic metres of excavation, with a precast factory in International City producing 12 tunnel rings a day.
What it changes
Three things, in ascending order of importance.
First, journey times for a large group of residents who currently drive everything. Second, the property question: metro proximity has reliably moved values in Dubai, and the districts on this line are ones where buying versus renting maths is finely balanced. Anyone tracking rent movements by area should watch these corridors between now and 2029.
Third, and least discussed: it changes what the metro is for. The Red and Green Lines were built along the commercial spine and have always served commuters and visitors in roughly equal measure. The Blue Line is a commuter line, aimed at where people sleep rather than where they shop. If you are new to the network, our guide to the Dubai Metro and Nol card covers how to ride it today, and our Salik guide explains the toll costs it is designed to displace.
For the wider transport picture, the UAE’s rail ambitions now extend well past the city — see our report on Etihad Rail’s first passenger service.
Primary sources: the RTA Blue Line project page, the contract award release, the foundation stone announcement and the December 2025 progress review.
Read next: Etihad Rail Freight: The Spine Under the UAE Logistics Story
