Imagine boarding a sleek, silver bullet of a train in the UAE and gliding across the desert, reaching Dubai from Abu Dhabi in just 50 minutes. Whether you’re a solo commuter, a family on holiday, or a first-class traveler seeking luxury, this vision is fast becoming a reality, with passenger trains scheduled to start operating by 2026 in the UAE.
At the Global Rail conference in Abu Dhabi, Etihad Rail offered a first glimpse inside its highly anticipated passenger trains. A model of the silver train cabin was displayed with the iconic black and red Etihad rail logo on it.
According to the staff, each train will have three cabins — economy class, family class, and first class. While the economy class will have back-to-back dark grey colored seats, the family class will have seats facing each other with a longer table in between. The first-class seats will be wider and adjustable for the comfort of passengers. Tray tables are available behind all the seats, and there will be overhead space for luggage in each cabin. There will be separate space for additional larger pieces of luggage.
To enter the train station, passengers will have to scan their tickets at the automated barrier. A spokesperson said that although it would be advisable to book tickets online early, ticket machines will be available at the train stations as well. A sample ticket vending machine was also on display. Passengers can select the preferred class of travel, their start and end destinations, and can also mention special requests here. Black and grey in color, the machine will accept banknotes, card, and Apple Pay.
It is not yet clear what the fares for the train journey from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah will be and what kind of last-mile transport options will be available.
The first passenger trains are expected to run at speeds of 200 km/h. A trip to Dubai from Abu Dhabi will take 57 minutes. Going from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah will take around 100 minutes, while traveling from Abu Dhabi to Ruwais will take around 70 minutes.
There will be two different kinds of trains operating across the network as well, each with a different number of seats. The Chinese CRC cabins will have 365 seats, while the Spanish CAF cabins will have 369 seats. There will be small differences in the design of the two cabins as well, although the classes will remain the same.
The train and station hosts have cream-and-red uniforms, and the train drivers have grey-and-black uniforms.
