Etihad Rail—the 900-km nationwide railway billed because the Gulf’s reply to Europe’s high-speed networks—has entered its last pre-launch part. Senior executives informed Condé Nast Traveler yesterday that passenger operations linking Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah will start “later this yr”, with full inter-emirate protection to comply with in levels by means of 2026. (cntraveler.com)
The preliminary backbone will join Mohammed bin Zayed Metropolis within the capital to Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai earlier than persevering with east to Fujairah’s Al Hilal district. Commonplace trains will run at 200 km/h and reduce the Abu Dhabi–Dubai journey to 57 minutes—half right now’s typical drive time. A separate high-speed line able to 350 km/h remains to be in growth and guarantees a 30-minute sprint between the 2 cities as soon as commissioned. (cntraveler.com)
For worldwide workers heading to website visits or longer assignments alongside the brand new hall, entry formalities stay a key planning step. VisaHQ’s UAE portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/) streamlines all the pieces from single-entry vacationer visas for fast route-recce journeys to multi-year residency permits for rail challenge secondees, letting mobility groups file, monitor, and amend functions in a single place—essential as Etihad Rail shrinks journey occasions between emirates however not the paperwork.
For international mobility managers, the rail challenge is greater than an infrastructure headline. Multinationals with places of work scattered throughout totally different emirates will be capable of deal with the nation as a single labour market: every day commuting between Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah turns into reasonable, decreasing reliance on pricey company shuttle companies and housing allowances tied to 1 metropolis. (cntraveler.com)
Cargo operations have been working since 2023, however including passenger capability ought to relieve strain on the UAE’s busy motorway community and DXB’s short-haul air shuttles. Officers estimate annual CO₂ financial savings of 8.2 million t as soon as the community is absolutely purposeful—an more and more essential metric for ESG-conscious firms monitoring business-travel emissions. (cntraveler.com)
Ticketing will probably be digital-first and is anticipated to combine with Dubai’s nol smart-card system, which means visiting executives might faucet the identical pockets throughout metro, tram, bus and inter-city rail. Class segmentation (First, Enterprise, Financial system) mirrors airline cabins, with a luxurious rail-cruise product in partnership with Italy’s Arsenale catering to MICE teams and high-net-worth vacationers. Firms planning conferences for late 2026 ought to monitor the phased opening schedule when locking venues and delegate logistics. (cntraveler.com)
