Ride · 1 Sept 2026 · 7 min
How to ride the metro without looking lost
Gates, gold cabin, Sunday hours, and the two interchanges that actually matter.
Dubai Metro is the reason a mid salary is livable. It is also the place newcomers freeze: two lines, a gold car, a women’s car, and a beep that means you did it wrong.
The two lines
Red Line is Sheikh Zayed Road: airport, Downtown, Mall of the Emirates, Marina, Ibn Battuta, Expo. Green Line is older Dubai: Deira, Union, BurJuman, Creek. You change at Union or BurJuman. That is the whole system for daily life. Tram is a Marina/JBR extra, not a third metro.
The card
Silver NOL. Tap in, tap out. Transfers to bus and tram within 30 minutes count as one journey. Forget tap-out and you pay the maximum. Keep at least AED 7.50 on the card. A 30-day all-zone pass is AED 350 if you ride like a commuter.
Where not to sit
- Gold cabin: the cars at the ends. Inspectors check. Silver riders get fined.
- Women and children cabin: marked. Men travelling alone should not sit there.
- Doorways: this is not a suggestion in peak. Stand inside.
Hours that catch people out
Sunday starts at 08:00, not 05:00. Friday runs until 01:00. Public holidays sometimes extend. If your shift ends at 01:30, that is a taxi, not a wish.
S’hail is the RTA app. Use it for buses. Google is fine for Red Line muscle memory. Airport T2 is not on the metro in a useful way — budget a bus or a car.