I Tried the Emirates BRAND NEW Railway: Full Review!

The United Arab Emirates is basically just a huge desert but with a few very special places spread about where millions of people actually live. And in the past intercity public transport has been provided nearly entirely by these busy and pretty slow buses. But that all changes now. Etihad Rail is a 15 billion dollar project designed to connect all of the seven emirates that make up the UAE with high-speed passenger rail. Today I will show and tell you everything you need to know about this network which will quite literally change how people move around the country. So let's go. Welcome to my $60 per night five-star hotel in Dubai Marina. There is no denying the regional difficulties at the moment have hugely decreased tourism but it has certainly made it very cheap to visit right now and at no point did I feel unsafe at all on Let's take an Uber the 15 minutes from my hotel to Dubai station where today's trip will begin. There is a connection to the Etihad rail station from the Dubai metro red line at Jumeirah Golf Estate station. It is a five-minute walk along this step-free elevated and air-conditioned walkway. This opened shortly after filming on October the 15th but at the time three shuttle buses were in operation. Okay let's head inside. There are three golf buggies to drive you from the parking or taxi areas. Today we will be focusing on the core route from Dubai to Abu Dhabi but I will show you the super scenic full route out to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman coast later on. All stations have a beautiful map just inside the entrance to let you visualize what an ambitious project this really is. The stations are all very impressive and modern. They all follow the same design scheme but are also all unique which gives them their own character but still allows for familiarity. Down the centre of the main concourse is a waiting area with sofas and tables with a staffed information point off to the left-hand side. Automatic ticket machines are just beyond this but you're going to want to buy online as services can and do sell out on many days. The station is fully accessible by lifts to all floors and free-to-use toilets are also available. Other amenities include a very British WH Smith convenience store and an Etihad Rail merch shop. There is also a kids play area and a Starbucks on the way down to the premium lounge. Free access is granted here with my premium class ticket for today's trip. This is a lovely comfortable and calm place to wait for your train with plenty of seating, desks and toilets available. There are also complimentary sweet and savoury canapes along with water, juices and hot drinks. I took a seat down the far end and just chilled, ate and drank for 20 minutes or so. Digital departure boards can be found both in the lounge and throughout the station with the information in both Arabic and English. Our train today is the 8.14am departure to Abu Dhabi so let's check out the route. We will travel on the core section between the UAE's biggest city and its capital non-stop today. The rest of the network to the east is now open which I will show you later on, with the parts west of Abu Dhabi opening in the coming years. Boarding is called 30 minutes before scheduled departure time. I can just scan the QR code on my e-ticket within the Etihad Rail app and then head up the escalator one level to the platforms. At the top is a sort of departure lounge where you can await in air-conditioned comfort if the train is not ready for boarding yet or indeed has not yet arrived as in our case. After just a couple of minutes though our Etihad Rail Spanish-built CAF push-pull diesel multiple unit pulls in. These seven coach trains have a power car at each end and five passenger coaches in between with seating for 369 passengers across two classes of travel. They have a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour and a huge power output of 6860 kilowatts. I think they look very smart too with this particular one being adorned in a UAE flag livery. There are two different types of train operating on the network, the other being a Chinese-built CRRC model but more on that later on. I will be travelling in premium class which is located in coach 1 at the rear of the train today. Level boarding is available at every door on the train and at every station on the network. Premium class is in a 2 plus 1 configuration with these large leather reclining seats in a mix of airline style and bays of 2 and 4. We will check them out in more detail once we get going. Luggage can be stored on the vertical stacks in the vestibules and also on the large overhead racks which run above all seats. Let's get settled in as departure time is fast approaching. We leave right on time at 8.14am. This 147km journey from Dubai to Abu Dhabi is scheduled to take us 1 hour and 4 minutes of travel time. In Dubai, we wish you an enjoyable journey. All onboard announcements are made in both Arabic and English. Welcome on board Etihad Rail. This train is travelling to Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed City Station. Please store your luggage safely under your seat, in the overhead racks or in the dedicated large luggage areas. For assistance, speak to our on-board team. We wish you a pleasant journey. Now, this train does have free Wi-Fi available, but just look at this woeful connection speed. Fortunately, I have my unlimited data Global Holofly eSIM installed for this trip in the UAE and just look at the difference in speed with my 5G data connection. It's over 10 times faster than the train's Wi-Fi. Holofly offers unlimited data eSIMs for more than 200 destinations worldwide, including a global eSIM and over 15 regional packages, so you can choose the one that best suits your trip. Frequent travellers can also benefit from Holofly plans, which cover more than 160 destinations for one low monthly subscription. These come as unlimited data or 25GB lite options with no contract and you can cancel at any time. You'll also receive the always-on benefit with every eSIM, providing 1GB of global backup data every month from the moment your eSIM is installed. And if you need assistance, then the Holofly support team is available 24/7 through either web chat or WhatsApp. Use code NonstopEurotrip to get 5% off any Holofly eSIM, or get 10% off a Holofly Plan subscription for your first 12 months. Click my link above or in the description below to get connected with Holofly today! Tickets in premium class start from 109 dirham for an adult or 39 dirham in comfort class. Prices are dynamic and are also currently 50% off for the launch period which as of October 2026 has no given end date. Both these prices are for a non-refundable or changeable ticket with random seat selection. You can then choose to pay an additional 20 dirham for free seat selection and a free change or 60 dirham for those benefits and also to make it fully refundable. Children under 18 receive a 50% discount on these prices and seniors 60 and over get a 20% reduction. Under 2's travel free but with no allocated seat. The best way to book is direct on the Etihad website or app for the cheapest prices. International credit and debit cards are accepted and the e-tickets are instantly available after purchase. Service is quick and shortly after departure a little box is handed out with a couple of delicious welcome chocolates. Okay, let's check out the seats. The substantial leather recliners are very well padded and have a large winged headrest. Both armrests are adjustable and the seat base can be reclined a good amount electronically using these buttons. Legroom is also decent and there is an adjustable footrest down below. A large and sturdy tray table is also available which has some grooves for a drink and device. There is a separate small shelf up above which has its own built-in USB-A port. Another USB-A port and a UK-style 3-pin power socket can be found on the back of the seat. It's disappointing to see they haven't included USB-C ports. A coat hook is also available, and up above are personal reading lights. Each seat row also has individual window blinds, even on the double-width windows. Overall, except for no USB-C ports, I have no complaints about this seat. We are now joining the mainline after coming off the Dubai Spur. Seen here to the left is the Dubai Bypass line. Freight services have been operating on the network for going on 10 years now but passenger services only commenced on 30th of June 2026. Next the breakfast service commences. Passengers in both classes get a complimentary meal with drinks with the premium class one being a fair bit better than in comfort class. Mine consisted of a warm cheese paratha, a fruit salad, a muffin, a bottle of water, an orange juice and a coffee. Pretty good for an included offering. We are now steaming through the vast empty desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi Emirates at close to this train's top speed of 200 kilometers per hour. It's 39 degrees outside and the AC in here is excellent and it needs to be. Okay let's go and check out the rest of the train. Each coach has just one pair of centrally located doors and in the vestibule by these is where you will find the toilets. These are all western vacuum style units. Be careful you lock the door properly you actually have to hold the button in for a second. Please lock the door. The water and hand dryer worked and the soap was stocked up. There was also a variety of tissues and plenty of toilet paper available. A baby changing table was also present. The toilet includes a bum gun and on the whole everything was very clean. In between the two classes is the kitchen area where onboard staff prepare all the food and drinks. Beyond is Comfort Class which is all in a 2 plus 2 configuration. The first coach is all bays of four seats around tables meant for families travelling with children. In the next vestibule is the accessible toilet which is very spacious and again very clean. The two wheelchair spaces are just through the following door and both have accompanying companion seats. Then the remaining three coaches are all 2 plus 2 comfort class seating but all in a mix of airline style and bays of four. These seats are also reasonably comfortable just not on the level of premium class. They are also much narrower and have reduced legroom. Adjustable armrests, USB-A ports, tray tables and individual sun blinds are still all available. Overall a good second class product. I took four separate Etihad Rail trips on my visit to the UAE and all four were operated by these CAF trains. So thanks to Paul Lucas for providing me with a few clips on the CRRC units from his trip so we can look at the differences. Firstly, they are quite visually distinctive from the outside anyway. The CRRC trains are much more sleek and modern looking with the CAF ones being more boxy with an aluminium exterior. Internally they have a nearly identical layout but with slightly different seats in both classes. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about which type of train you get, there are no big differences to the overall experience. One thing both do share though is pretty bad ride quality. This is more than likely down to the tracks rather than the trains, but I was still surprised that a new system had so much bumping and swaying. Neighbouring Saudi Arabia has had a high speed railway along their western coast linking the cities of Medina, Jeddah and Mecca also through the desert, and that rides endlessly better than this railway does. Check out that video after you've watched this one, I will link it in the in the description below. These lines are all shared with many daily freight trains, which is the backbone of the UAE's nationwide cargo transport services helping to get thousands of long distance trucks off the already over-congested roads. The rail network also links the key ports and industries in the country with the capacity to transport 60 million tonnes of goods per year, both containerised and bulk freight which will lower carbon emissions by over 8 million tonnes annually, a 21% reduction on previous statistics. There are also future plans to electrify the core section between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the next five years. Diesel trains were chosen initially for lower startup costs and faster completion. One thing they certainly don't have a shortage of here is fossil fuels. Later on this day I rode the full route from Abu Dhabi via Dubai to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman coast, the longest possible trip on Etihad Rail right now which covers 298 kilometers. To the eastern end this passes through the stunning Hajar Mountains which provide by far the best train window views on the network. It's quite the difference to the endless sand dunes we travel through for most of this trip. I was served a delicious hot chicken machboos on this journey which is my favorite meal from this part of the world and it didn't disappoint. This was my first visit to the Emirate of Fujairah and it's quite the different vibe from the concrete jungles of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But I did enjoy my short visit. It's great to see new parts of a country when you can. It is still oppressively hot and super humid out here though so I won't stay outside too long. Okay back to our featured journey which we are now approaching the end of. We are now approaching Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed City Station. Please take all your luggage and personal belongings with you. Thank you for choosing Etihad Rail. We wish you a safe onward journey and look forward to welcoming you back on board soon. So let me summarize my full experience across these four journeys in three days with Etihad Rail, the United Arab Emirates brand new passenger rail system. Overall I was super impressed with what I saw. Everything was very modern and clean from the stations to the trains and all members of staff I encountered were very friendly and helpful. This will be an absolute game changer for how people move around and between the Emirates, especially when they ramp up the service frequency. I have had to take the bus between Dubai and Abu Dhabi myself on a few occasions and it is a horrible experience with queues of a couple of hours to wait for the bus and then a couple of hours travel time on already congested routes. Now you can do it in comfort in just one hour. The onboard amenities and service were also both excellent with comfortable seats and complimentary food for all. Even when the 50% introductory discount ends at some point, I still think these trains offer great value for money. Pre-bookable shuttle buses are available to and from Abu Dhabi station to take you to the city. These coincide with train departure and arrival times. See the website for more details on these. Have you tried Etihad Rail yet? If so, what was your experience like? If not, would you like to try it soon? Let me know in the comments below. Don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching to the end and I'll see you in the next video.