Dubai Metro Blue Line — route, stations, progress & 2029 opening

The Blue Line is Dubai Metro's major next expansion: a 30-kilometre route built to connect residential, academic and growth districts east of the established Red/Green network. It is not a new tourist line running through Downtown, DIFC and Expo City. That description appeared in earlier versions of this page and was wrong; the RTA's confirmed route is centred on Al Jaddaf/Creek, Dubai Festival City, Dubai Creek Harbour, Ras Al Khor, International City, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Academic City, Mirdif and Al Warqa.

The project matters to visitors mainly because it will make several east-Dubai destinations far easier to reach without a taxi, while creating new connections between the existing Red and Green lines. For residents, the effect is larger: RTA says the line will serve nine key districts with a projected population of about one million.

The RTA describes the Blue Line as two routes that join at International City 1. Thinking of it as a branching line is much clearer than imagining one straight track across Dubai.

Route 1: Creek / Al Jaddaf to Academic City

The longer branch begins at the Creek interchange station on the Green Line in Al Jaddaf. It then passes through Dubai Festival City, Dubai Creek Harbour and Ras Al Khor before reaching International City 1. From there it continues through International City 2 and 3, Dubai Silicon Oasis and terminates in Dubai Academic City.

RTA's awarded-project description puts this branch at about 21 km with 10 stations, combining underground and elevated sections.

Route 2: Centrepoint to International City 1

The second branch starts at Centrepoint, the existing Red Line interchange at Al Rashidiya. It runs through Mirdif and Al Warqa before meeting the first branch at International City 1. RTA describes this section as about 9 km with four stations.

The Centrepoint connection is especially important because it links the Blue Line into the Red Line corridor serving Dubai International Airport. RTA says the project will create direct connectivity between Dubai International Airport and the nine districts served by the Blue Line; that does not mean a Blue Line platform is being built inside the airport terminals.

Blue Line construction formally began in 2025. In its 3 May 2026 update, RTA said the project had reached 20% completion, with more than 10,000 workers deployed and more than 500 engineers and experts overseeing delivery. RTA also reported more than 13 million work hours without a lost-time injury at that milestone.

The same update launched the main tunnelling phase from the International City 1 station site. RTA's tunnel-boring programme proceeds in three directions, while bridge works are also advancing. One of the standout engineering features is a 1.3 km bridge crossing Dubai Creek — the first Dubai Metro bridge to cross the Creek.

RTA's official schedule says completion is expected to reach 30% by the end of 2026, with opening planned for 9/9/2029. That date is unusually specific and was deliberately chosen to coincide with the Metro's 20th-anniversary year.

Dubai Creek Harbour becomes genuinely Metro-accessible

This is the clearest tourist benefit. Creek Harbour is already a destination for skyline views, waterfront walks, dining and the wider Creek development, but it is awkward without a car or taxi. A signature Blue Line station gives the district direct rapid-transit access and connects it into both sides of the existing Metro network via the line's interchanges.

Festival City becomes easier without a taxi

Dubai Festival City sits close to the airport geographically but has never been particularly convenient by Metro. A Blue Line station will make the mall, waterfront and surrounding hotels far more practical for visitors relying on public transport.

Airport-area trips get another useful connection

The Blue Line's Centrepoint interchange links into the Red Line, which serves DXB terminals 1 and 3. For someone staying in Mirdif, International City, Silicon Oasis or Academic City, that gives a much more useful rail path to the airport than exists today.

It is not a substitute for the Red Line's tourist spine

Downtown Dubai, Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, DIFC, the Museum of the Future corridor and Dubai Marina remain Red Line territory. The Blue Line does not suddenly make the Palm, Jumeirah beaches or Burj Al Arab direct-Metro destinations either. Its biggest contribution is filling a large east-Dubai gap and creating better network interchange.

For a trip in 2026, ignore the Blue Line on journey planners because it is a construction project, not an operating service. The Red Line remains the main tourist workhorse, linking DXB terminals 1 and 3 with Downtown, the financial district and the Marina/JLT corridor before continuing towards Expo City. The Green Line is especially useful around Deira, Bur Dubai and Al Jaddaf.

Use the Metro alongside taxis, buses, the Dubai Tram and marine transport rather than trying to force every trip onto rail. Jumeirah's beach strip, many Palm Jumeirah destinations and scattered desert/outlying attractions remain much easier by road.

For current fares, station operating times and live journey planning, use the RTA rather than static times copied into a travel article. This page deliberately avoids pretending that timetable data is “live”.

• It is not a 30-station line. RTA's confirmed project has 14 stations.
• It does not run through DIFC and Business Bay to Expo City. Those are not the confirmed Blue Line route described by RTA.
• It is not partially open in 2026. It is under construction.
• Its opening date is not “unknown”. RTA has an official target of 9 September 2029, although travellers should still re-check closer to the date.
• It does not replace the Red or Green Line. It connects into both and expands coverage eastward.

These distinctions matter because construction news gets repeatedly condensed into inaccurate travel summaries. When route details differ between a secondary article and RTA, use the RTA project description.

RTA expects the Blue Line to carry around 200,000 passengers a day in 2030, rising to roughly 320,000 daily passengers by 2040. The authority estimates capacity at about 56,000 passengers per hour in both directions when trains are running at very high frequency. Those forecasts help explain why International City 1 is being built as a very large interchange rather than a simple neighbourhood stop.

The line is also being used as a design statement. The Dubai Creek Harbour station — branded the Emaar Properties Station in RTA's 2026 update — is planned at 74 metres tall. RTA says the remaining station interiors use themes inspired by air, water, earth and fire. For travellers that is secondary to route convenience, but it signals that some Blue Line stations are intended to be destinations and landmarks in their own right rather than purely functional platforms.

Economically, RTA estimates total benefits of more than AED 56.5 billion by 2040. Those benefits are not a traveller saving and should not be read as project revenue; they are RTA's broader economic-benefit estimate tied to connectivity, travel time and development along the corridor.

Most tourists will not plan their 2026 holiday around Blue Line works, but construction is spread across multiple eastern districts and can create temporary road diversions around station and tunnelling sites. If you are staying in International City, Mirdif, Al Warqa, Silicon Oasis, Festival City or Creek Harbour, allow extra road time around visible works and follow current RTA traffic notices rather than relying on a static detour described months earlier.

The project should not be confused with routine Red or Green Line service changes. A construction site beside a future Blue Line station does not mean the existing Metro is closed. For same-day travel, the RTA journey planner and current service notices are the right source.