Dubai Airport Express Line via JVC and the Abu Dhabi high-speed train: what changes for property

In August 2026 Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) set out the shape of the Airport Express Line, a rail link between the city’s two airports, Dubai International (DXB) and Al Maktoum International (DWC). At the same time Etihad Rail is advancing a separate high-speed line between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Both run along the Al Khail Road corridor, which makes this the most important transport story of the year for several residential districts.

Airport Express: route and stations

The roughly 55 km line starts at the Red Line metro station at DXB, runs through Al Jaddaf and along Al Khail Road to a new station at Jumeirah Village Circle, then continues to Al Maktoum. There are five main stations. Two branches leave JVC: one to Al Fardan Exchange metro station by Emirates Golf Club, the other to Business Bay, where another station will be built.

The distinctive feature is airport processing at the stations: passengers will be able to check in, drop bags and clear security before boarding. A resident of JVC or Business Bay would reach the airport without luggage.

Status in September 2026: the RTA is running the tender for studies and design, and six consortia have bid: AECOM with Surbana Jurong, AtkinsRéalis, Jacobs, Parsons with Arup, Systra with Egis, and WSP. No winner, budget or construction timetable has been announced. The line is meant to be ready when operations shift from DXB to Al Maktoum, which Dubai ties to completion of the new airport’s first phase in the early 2030s. We cover that move in our note on DXB’s closure.

The Abu Dhabi–Dubai high-speed line

Etihad Rail is building a separate, fully electrified high-speed line with trains running at up to 350 km/h. The journey between the capital and Dubai is expected to take about 30 minutes, with capacity for up to 21 million passengers a year. It will have two Dubai stations, at Al Maktoum airport and in Al Jaddaf, with the track running parallel to the metro Red Line, largely along Al Khail Road. The project was announced in January 2025 and is due for completion by 2030. It is distinct from Etihad Rail’s conventional passenger trains, which began carrying passengers in summer 2026.

What it means for homes

District	What it gets	Horizon
JVC	Airport Express station with branches to the Marina side and Business Bay	Not announced
Al Jaddaf	Airport Express and high-speed rail stations	High-speed line by 2030
Dubai South	Al Maktoum airport as the terminus of both lines	Airport first phase, early 2030s

JVC stands to gain most. A district of tens of thousands of apartments still has no metro station and runs on cars, and rail access is historically what lifts rents most near stations. But it is too early to put a line with no contractor into a yield model: the real effect shows up when construction starts, not at the design-tender stage.

Al Jaddaf is a special case. If both lines are built as announced, it would combine the metro, the airport express and the high-speed train to Abu Dhabi, becoming one of the city’s main interchanges.

If you are choosing a rental apartment with future transport in mind, start with our JVC area guide: prices, rents and the volume of new supply arriving while the rail and road projects are built. Read it alongside our note on JVC’s new supply.