Etihad Rail carried passengers between Abu Dhabi and Al Dhannah for the first time on January 25. This route is a component of Etihad Rail’s strategic alliance with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Al Dhannah is around 250 kilometres west of Abu Dhabi and has 29,000 people. The 1970s saw the beginning of the development of the sleepy desert town as it was chosen to house Adnoc’s industrial
staff.
The ability to travel between the two cities will be available to ADNOC employees and contractors once this route is fully functioning. Though specific dates for passenger train operations have not yet been disclosed, Etihad train’s full passenger network will eventually connect all seven emirates. From Al Sila to Fujairah, 11 cities will be connected by rail passenger services. Trains can travel up to 200 km/h between stations. As compared to other forms of transportation, they will cut the commuting time by thirty to forty percent. It is anticipated that there would be more than 36.5 million passengers yearly by 2030. You can travel from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah in one hour and forty minutes and from Abu Dhabi to
Dubai in fifty minutes at a speed of 200 km/h using the passenger rail service. In addition, the carriages will have many food and beverage options, entertainment systems, charging ports, and Wi-Fi. Etihad Rail has been offering goods train services since 2023. In 2023, Etihad Rail began operating goods trains throughout the United Arab Emirates and opened the 900-kilometer network expansion that connected all seven emirates, from Ghuweifat in Abu Dhabi on the Saudi Arabian border to Fujairah on the country’s eastern coast. The Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD), Al Ruwais, Ghuweifat, the Port of Fujairah, the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, the Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, and the Port of Fujairah are all connected by Etihad Rail’s
network.
Additionally, in September 2022, Etihad Rail and Oman Rail inked a deal to jointly form the OmanEtihad Rail Company and build a 303-kilometer railway connecting Sohar and Abu Dhabi. This would cut the travel time to one hour, forty minutes, and from Sohar to Al Ain to 47 minutes, at a maximum speed of 200 km/h.