Etihad Rail marks historic passenger journey from Abu Dhabi to Al Dhannah

For the first time ever, passengers travelled over 250 km on an Etihad Rail train on Thursday between Abu Dhabi and Al Dhannah, marking an historic debut for the UAE’s mega railway project.

Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and members of ADNOC’s Executive leadership team, travelled aboard Etihad Rail’s first passenger rail journey, connecting the two coastal UAE cities.

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Once fully operational, the rail service is set to enable ADNOC’s staff and contractors to travel between the two destinations. The rail passenger service, at this stage, is not yet open to the general public.

“ADNOC’s partnership with Etihad Rail is fully aligned with our strategic priorities to successfully implement transport solutions that contribute to the UAE’s development and future prosperity,” said Al Jaber.

“The Etihad Rail project is more than just a rail network, it will serve as a vital artery for economic growth and infrastructure development while driving decarbonisation, for the benefit of the UAE and its people,” he added.

Upon arriving in Al Dhannah, Al Jaber and his team took a tour of ADNOC’s downstream and petrochemicals hub in Al Ruwais Industrial City, where he was briefed on projects at Borouge 4, ADNOC Refining and the Ruwais LNG project.

Already, ADNOC has partnered with Etihad Rail to transport sulphur products by rail between Shah and Habshan to the export point at Al Ruwais Industrial City.

Shadi Malak, CEO of Etihad Rail, said, “We were pleased to host ADNOC’s executive leadership team on board the first rail journey between Abu Dhabi City and Al Dhannah City, and we are proud to have a strategic partner and customer such as ADNOC, who were one of the first companies to adopt rail transportation solutions in the country.”

Etihad Rail’s growing network

Since 2016, Etihad Rail has been operating a route that spans 264 km, transporting granulated sulphur from sources at Shah and Habshan to export in Ruways.

Construction on the network expansion to connect the emirates spanning across the entire UAE, from Ghuwaifat on the border with Saudi Arabia to Fujairah on the eastern coast, began in January 2020.

In 2023, Etihad Rail inaugurated a network expansion, spanning around 900 km linking all seven emirates, from Ghuwaifat on the border with Saudi Arabia to Fujairah on the eastern coast of the UAE. It also launched freight train operations across the UAE. 

Upon completion, Etihad Rail’s network will span 1200 km, connect all seven of the UAE’s emirates, link up to four major ports and have nine tunnels. Passenger trains on the network will also travel at over 200 km/hour while freight trains can travel at up to 120 km/hour on the network.

Etihad Rail’s future passenger network will also offer travel times of 50 minutes between Abu Dhabi to Dubai, 100 minutes between Abu Dhabi to Fujairah, 50 minutes between Dubai to Fujairah and 70 minutes between Abu Dhabi and Ruwais.