Dubai Metro Gold Line: 18 stations underground, due Sep 2032
A 42 km Metro line under the city from Al Ghubaiba to Jumeirah Golf Estates, with 18 stations, all underground. RTA plans to open it in Sep 2032. It meets the Green Line at Al Ghubaiba, the Red Line at Business Bay and Jumeirah Golf Estates, and Etihad Rail at Meydan and Jumeirah Golf Estates. Doha's Metro has a Gold Line too; this page is about Dubai's.
RTA's plan runs it from Bur Dubai to Business Bay, then south through Meydan to Jumeirah Golf Estates
RTA's Dubai Rail Network Plan 2032 draws the line with 18 numbered stations. Only four have names: Al Ghubaiba (1), Business Bay (6), Meydan (13) and Jumeirah Golf Estates (18). We traced the plan onto the map below. Station 5 sits under a drawing on RTA's map, so we leave it off.
The map loads as you scroll to it.
Our trace of RTA's plan. RTA has not published exact sites, so a station can be off by about 1 km. Zoom in for the station numbers.
Two stops link to Etihad Rail: Jumeirah Golf Estates today, Meydan later
At Jumeirah Golf Estates you can already walk from the Red Line to Etihad Rail's Al Yalayis station: a 375 m footbridge opened in Oct 2026, and one QR ticket covers both trips. Trains from there reach Abu Dhabi in about an hour. The Gold Line will stop at the same Metro station.
At Meydan, RTA plans a second Etihad Rail station next to Gold Line station 13. RTA has given no date for it.
Four stations have names so far; the other 14 only have numbers
- Al Ghubaiba (1): change to the Green Line
- Business Bay (6): change to the Red Line
- Meydan (13): change to Etihad Rail once its Meydan station opens
- Jumeirah Golf Estates (18): change to the Red Line on Route 2020, and to Etihad Rail
RTA says the line serves 15 areas. It has named 11: Al Ghubaiba, Mina Rashid, City Walk, Business Bay, Mohammed bin Rashid City, Nad Al Sheba, Mohammed bin Rashid Gardens, Meydan, Al Barsha South, Jumeirah Village Circle and Jumeirah Golf Estates.
It grows the Metro by a third: 162 km and 85 stations
- Track: from 120 km to 162 km, counting the Blue Line
- Stations: from 67 to 85
- Riders: about 465,000 a day after 2040
- People served: about 1.5 million, and 55 projects being built along the line
- Red Line: RTA expects 23% less crowding between BurJuman and Garmin station (called ONPASSIVE when RTA said it in Apr 2026)
One contract will cover tunnels, trains and systems; RTA aims to award it by the end of 2027
- Cost: about AED 34 billion
- Depth: about 40 m, Dubai's first Metro line fully underground
- Tunnels: three times the length of today's Metro tunnels
- Scope: one design-and-build contract for civil works, trains and rail systems, plus three years of help running it
- Consultant: AECOM
- Applicants: six groups applied to prequalify in Oct 2026, among them Alstom, CRRC, Hitachi, Siemens, and Larsen & Toubro with Powerchina
Our read: the stops south of Business Bay and the Meydan rail link matter most
I would watch two things. First, the stations between Business Bay and Jumeirah Golf Estates: Meydan, Al Barsha South and Jumeirah Village Circle have no Metro today, so these stops change daily trips most. Second, Meydan: an Etihad Rail stop there would sit closer to Downtown and east Dubai than the one at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The catch: 2032 is six years away, the contract is not awarded, and 14 stations have no names or sites yet. Read our map as the corridor; a stop can still move by a kilometer. RTA has not said whether the trains will run without drivers, as the Red and Green Lines do.
Facts and sources
- constructionreviewonline.com
- corporate.etihadrail.ae
- Dubai Media Office 1 2
- Gulf News 1 2 3
- Khaleej Times
- MEED 1 2
- railjournal.com
- The National 1 2
- TradeArabia
Next: the tender by the end of 2026, the contract by the end of 2027
- End of 2026RTA plans to issue the tender
- End of 2027RTA aims to award the contract
- Sep 2032Planned opening
So far: approved in Apr 2026, six groups seeking prequalification by Oct 2026
- Oct 2025RTA picks AECOM as consultant
- Apr 2026Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid approves the Gold Line: 42 km, 18 stations, AED 34 billion
- Jun 2026RTA asks contractors to prequalify
- Sep 2026RTA shows its 2032 rail plan with the route and the Etihad Rail stop at Meydan
- Oct 2026Six contractor groups hand in prequalification papers
Five answers: opens Sep 2032, 18 stations, two Etihad Rail links
When does the Dubai Metro Gold Line open?
RTA plans to open it in Sep 2032.
Where does the Gold Line go?
From Al Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai to Business Bay, then south through Meydan and Al Barsha South to Jumeirah Golf Estates. It runs underground the whole way.
What are the Gold Line stations?
18 in all. Four have names so far: Al Ghubaiba, Business Bay, Meydan and Jumeirah Golf Estates. RTA has not published the others.
Will the Gold Line connect to Etihad Rail?
Yes, at two stations. At Jumeirah Golf Estates, Etihad Rail's Al Yalayis station already links to the Red Line by a footbridge. At Meydan, RTA plans a new Etihad Rail station next to the Gold Line stop.
Who will build it?
Not decided yet. Six groups applied to prequalify in Oct 2026; RTA plans to tender by the end of 2026 and aims to award the contract by the end of 2027.