The passenger trains get the photographs. But Etihad Rail was built to move sulphur, aggregates and containers, and freight is where it earns its keep. Here is what the network actually is, what runs on it, and what is being built next.
What the network is
Etihad Rail was established in 2009 under Federal Law No. 2 to manage the UAE’s national freight and passenger railway, connecting the seven emirates and linking the country to its GCC neighbours.
In its own description, “the 900-kilometre network connects key cities, ports and industrial hubs from Ghuwaifat to Fujairah.” That line runs from the Saudi border in the far west to the Gulf of Oman coast in the east — and the eastern end is the strategically interesting part, because Fujairah sits outside the Strait of Hormuz.
On scale, note that some trade coverage puts the completed network at 1,200 kilometres. We are using Etihad Rail’s own figure of 900 kilometres, attributed to it.
Freight, which came first
Freight services have been operational and well established since 2023, carrying bulk and industrial cargo. Etihad Rail states that “freight operations are active across 11 terminals and four major ports.”
The headline efficiency claim is its own: one freight train can replace up to 300 trucks on the road. For a country whose trunk routes carry enormous volumes of heavy vehicles between the western gas fields, the industrial zones and the ports, that is the entire argument for building a railway in the first place.
On what is actually moving, one 2026 account reports 1.8 million tonnes of sulphur, more than four million tonnes of aggregates and over 129,000 containers, with more than 340,000 truck journeys eliminated and a 70–80% reduction in carbon emissions per trip. Named customers include ADNOC for sulphur, Stevin Rock for aggregates and Borouge for petrochemicals. Those figures come from press reporting rather than Etihad Rail’s own published statistics, and we are flagging that rather than presenting them as official.
We are also deliberately not quoting an annual freight capacity. Figures of 50 or 60 million tonnes circulate widely but appear nowhere on Etihad Rail’s own site.
How it got built
The staged history is worth knowing, though Etihad Rail no longer publishes the breakdown itself and the following comes from trade press.
Stage One ran from Al Ruwais to Shah, roughly 264 kilometres, entering service in January 2016 and developed with ADNOC to move granulated sulphur from the inland gas fields to Ruwais for export. It was a single-commodity railway serving a single customer.
Stage Two was the national network — around 605 kilometres from Ghuweifat to Fujairah, opened in February 2023, built in packages running from the Saudi border through Tarif, Jebel Ali, Dubai and Sharjah, the last of them requiring nine tunnels through the Hajar mountains. It created the first rail connection between the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The ports connection
Rail freight only works if it reaches the quay, and this is where the network ties into the wider trade system. Etihad Rail’s four major ports connect the railway to the container and bulk terminals that handle UAE trade — including facilities covered in our profiles of AD Ports Group and Khalifa Port and of Jebel Ali.
The strategic value of an eastern terminus was underlined this year, when disruption around the Strait of Hormuz cut UAE container throughput sharply. A rail line reaching a port on the Gulf of Oman — the position that also makes Fujairah a major bunkering hub — is a hedge against exactly that chokepoint.
Hafeet Rail: the link to Oman
The next phase crosses a border. Hafeet Rail is a joint venture between Etihad Rail, Oman Rail and Mubadala Investment Company, building a connection between Sohar in Oman and the UAE network.
| Hafeet Rail | Detail |
|---|---|
| Length | 238 km main line per Hafeet Rail and the Abu Dhabi Media Office; Oman Rail describes the project at 303 km |
| Investment | USD 3 billion, per Oman Rail |
| Speeds | Passenger trains up to 200 km/h; freight up to 120 km/h |
| Journey times | Sohar to Abu Dhabi about 100 minutes; Sohar to Al Ain 47 minutes |
| Freight capacity | 15,000 tonnes or 276 TEU per trip |
| Reach | More than 12 passenger stations, 5 major ports and more than 15 integrated freight facilities |
In April 2026 the Abu Dhabi Government Media Office announced the project was 40% complete, with more than 27 million cubic metres of earthworks, over 100,000 cubic metres of concrete, 80 structures under construction, 900 concrete piles installed, 130 box culverts completed and ten million safe man-hours without a major injury. The corridor runs through the Al Ain Region, Al Buraimi, Sohar and Wadi Al Jizzi, crossing urban areas, industrial zones, mountainous terrain and deep wadis — which explains both the cost and the timeline.
An operational date has not been fixed. Construction has launched; the timeline is still being established.
The passenger side
Passenger services are being introduced in phases. Per Etihad Rail’s own schedule, routes connecting Abu Dhabi and Fujairah begin from 30 June 2026, followed by Dubai and Al Dhaid from 30 September 2026, Zayed City and Liwa from 30 November 2026, the remaining Al Dhafra stations from 30 December 2026, and Sharjah Station from 30 March 2027. Trains are specified with guaranteed seating, generous legroom, and Wi-Fi and power at every seat.
Our earlier report covered the first Abu Dhabi to Fujairah passenger service. For the urban rail picture in Dubai, see our guides to the Metro Blue Line and the existing Metro network.
Why it matters
A railway changes the economics of where you put a factory. Industrial land near a freight terminal becomes more valuable than industrial land near a motorway, because the cost per tonne-kilometre falls and the capacity is not limited by driver availability. That is the quiet consequence of Etihad Rail for the UAE economy — not the passenger timetable, but where the next warehouse gets built.
Primary sources: Etihad Rail, Etihad Rail on freight operations, Hafeet Rail and the Abu Dhabi Media Office on Hafeet Rail reaching 40% completion.
