Dubai RTA Metro Map: Lines, Stations & 2024 Fares

If you're new to Dubai or just tired of Careem fares eating your salary, the Dubai RTA metro map is the single most useful piece of paper (or PDF) you can have on your phone. It's also genuinely well-designed — clean, color-coded, and easier to read than the London or NYC versions. Here's what you actually need to know to use it without getting fined.

Quick answer

The Dubai RTA metro map covers two lines — Red and Green — operated by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The Red Line runs from Centrepoint (Rashidiya) to UAE Exchange (Jebel Ali), passing the airport, Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, and Mall of the Emirates. The Green Line loops through Deira and Bur Dubai. Trains run roughly 05:00 to midnight (later on weekends), fares are 3–8.50 AED with a Nol card, and you'll get fined 200 AED for sitting in the wrong cabin. The official PDF map is on rta.ae.

The two lines, in plain English

Dubai has two metro lines. That's it.

The Red Line is the workhorse. It runs 52 km along Sheikh Zayed Road, from Centrepoint station in Rashidiya through the airport (Terminals 1 and 3), Deira City Centre, Union, BurJuman, the financial district, Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Marina, and ends at the new Expo 2020/UAE Exchange branch. The Route 2020 extension opened in September 2021 and added seven stations toward the Expo site.

The Green Line is shorter — 22 km, 20 stations — and mostly serves old Dubai: Etisalat, Al Qiyadah, Salah Al Din, Baniyas Square, Al Ghubaiba, Healthcare City, and Creek. It connects to the Red Line at two interchange stations: Union and BurJuman. If you're going from Deira to Downtown, you'll change at Union.

There's also the Dubai Tram and the Palm Monorail, but those aren't on the core RTA metro map. The tram connects to the Red Line at Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) and Dubai Marina stations.

Honestly, once you've used it twice, you don't need the map.

Where to find the official dubai rta metro map

The only map you should trust is the one published by the RTA itself. Download the PDF from rta.ae under "Public Transport → Rail → Dubai Metro," or use the S'hail app (RTA's official journey planner) which overlays the live network on Google Maps and tells you platform numbers in real time.

Avoid the screenshots floating around on Reddit and Pinterest — half of them still show the pre-2021 network and don't include Route 2020 stations like The Gardens, Discovery Gardens, Al Furjan, or Expo 2020.

Station maps inside each station also show the latest dubai rta metro map on the wall near the gates, and there's a free paper version at the customer service desk if you ask. Worth grabbing one if you're hosting visitors.

Key map versions
- Network map (both lines, all 53 stations)
- Tourist map (with landmarks like Burj Khalifa, Gold Souk, Atlantis)
- Integrated transport map (metro + tram + bus + ferry)

Fares, Nol cards, and zones

The RTA splits Dubai into seven fare zones, but for the metro you really only need to know three price points.

A single journey within one zone costs 3 AED, two zones costs 5 AED, and three or more zones (the most common, e.g. Marina to Deira) costs 7.50 AED with a Silver Nol card. Gold Class — the front cabin with leather seats — is exactly double. So a Marina-to-Airport trip is 15 AED in Gold, 7.50 in Silver.

Daily caps exist but they're high (around 14 AED for unlimited zones on Silver), so most commuters just top up the card.

You'll need a Nol card to enter. Options:

• Red ticket (paper) — 2 AED, good for short visits, max 10 trips
• Silver Nol — 25 AED including 19 AED credit, the default
• Gold Nol — same price, lets you use Gold Class cabins
• Blue Nol — personalised, for students and seniors with discounts

Tap in, tap out. Forget to tap out and you'll be charged the maximum fare automatically. Frankly, most clients I help with metro fine disputes just forgot the tap-out.

Timings, frequencies, and the bits that catch people out

Trains run:

• Monday to Thursday: 05:00 to midnight
• Friday: 05:00 to 01:00 (next day)
• Saturday: 05:00 to midnight
• Sunday: 08:00 to midnight

Frequency is every 2.5 to 5 minutes during peak hours, every 7 to 10 minutes off-peak. The metro is driverless and almost always on time — the RTA reports 99.7% punctuality in its annual figures.

What catches people out:

Women and Children cabin. The pink-marked cabin (always toward one end of the train) is reserved for women and children under 5. Men sitting there get a 100 AED fine under RTA bylaws. Yes, even if it's empty. Yes, even if you didn't see the sign.

Eating and drinking. No food, no drinks (water included, technically), no gum. The fine is 100 AED. Enforcement is real — inspectors board randomly.

Sleeping across seats. That's a 300 AED fine. I've seen it issued.

Wrong-class cabin. Sitting in Gold Class with a Silver Nol card costs 100 AED plus the fare difference.

The full schedule of fines sits under Executive Council Resolution No. 21 of 2017 on Public Transport in the Emirate of Dubai, and the RTA updates the schedule periodically. Check the rta.ae fines page before you assume an old figure still applies.

Disputing a metro fine

If an inspector hands you a fine and you think it's wrong — say, you tapped out but the gate glitched, or you were in the family cabin with your wife and toddler — you have 30 days to dispute it.

Two routes:

1. RTA customer happiness centres (Al Barsha, Umm Ramool, Deira) — bring the fine receipt and your Nol card.
2. The RTA app or Dubai Now app — file an objection online with photos.

If the RTA rejects your objection and the fine is significant, you can escalate to the Dubai Courts under the general administrative grievance procedure. Honestly, for a 100 AED fine it's not worth your time. For repeated fines or a wrongful 1,000+ AED penalty (rare but it happens with fare evasion accusations), it's worth getting advice.

For a deeper look at how UAE traffic and transport fines work, see our traffic law category.

Accessibility, luggage, and bikes

The metro is genuinely accessible. Every station has lifts, tactile paving, and dedicated wheelchair spaces in the first cabin of each train. Audio announcements run in Arabic and English.

Luggage rules:

• Two pieces of cabin-sized luggage per passenger
• No items larger than 81 × 58 × 30 cm
• No bikes during peak hours (06:30–09:00 and 16:00–20:00); folded bikes in bike bags are fine anytime

Pets are not allowed except service animals with documentation.

Watch out
The metro connects to Dubai International Airport at Terminals 1 and 3 on the Red Line — but not Terminal 2 (use the airport shuttle bus or a taxi from there). And Al Maktoum International (DWC) isn't on the metro at all yet, despite what some outdated maps show.

The Blue Line is coming (but not for a while)

In November 2023, the RTA announced the Blue Line — a third metro line scheduled to open in September 2029. It'll run 30 km from Centrepoint through Mirdif, Dubai Creek Harbour, International City, Academic City, and Dubai Silicon Oasis, with 14 stations. Contract value: 18 billion AED.

Until then, the dubai rta metro map you see today is what you've got. Bookmark the PDF on rta.ae, get a Silver Nol, and don't sit in the pink cabin.

Need this checked for your situation? Talk to a UAE-licensed lawyer →

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Citations

[1] Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai Metro — Network and Fares, rta.ae [2] Executive Council Resolution No. 21 of 2017 Concerning Public Transport in the Emirate of Dubai [3] RTA Press Release, Route 2020 Inauguration, September 2021 [4] RTA Press Release, Dubai Metro Blue Line Award, November 2023 [5] S'hail app, RTA official journey planner