Business Bay Metro Station Overview
Business Bay is a Red Line station in Zone 6, in the tower cluster of the same name. It is station R26, one stop south of Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall and one stop north of ONPASSIVE.
The station serves the dense Business Bay residential and office cluster, anchored by the JW Marriott Marquis and a ring of towers along the Dubai Water Canal. The canal boardwalk, opened in November 2016, runs from the Creek through Business Bay out to the open sea at Jumeirah, and the easiest Metro walk onto it is from this station's south exit.
First and last train from Business Bay Station
These times come from the official RTA timetable. For the exact minute on the day you travel, the RTA S'hail app is the live source.
| Direction | First train | Last train |
|---|---|---|
| To Centrepoint | 5:23 AM daily | 12:32 AM (Mon to Wed, Sun) 12:31 AM (Thu, Fri) 12:28 AM (Sat) |
| To Expo 2020 | 5:09 AM (Mon to Sat) 7:59 AM (Sun) | 11:32 PM (Mon to Wed) 11:28 PM (Thu, Sat, Sun) 12:32 AM (Fri) |
| To Life Pharmacy | 5:06 AM (Mon to Sat) 7:57 AM (Sun) | 11:28 PM (Mon to Wed) 11:32 PM (Thu, Sat, Sun) 12:28 AM (Fri) |
Book a Dubai Water Canal dhow dinner
Several dhow and yacht operators run dinner cruises along the canal under the Tolerance Bridge. Pre-booking locks in the time and a window seat.
Business Bay Station opening hours and facilities
Business Bay station keeps the standard RTA opening hours, the same right across the network:
- Monday to Thursday: 5:00 AM to 12:00 AM
- Friday: 5:00 AM to 1:00 AM
- Saturday: 5:00 AM to 12:00 AM
- Sunday: 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM
Business Bay has the standard Dubai Metro facilities, confirmed in the official RTA passenger guide. The station is step-free, with lifts to all levels, tactile guidance paths, and dedicated wheelchair spaces on every train. Nol card machines and a ticket counter sit inside the concourse, alongside bilingual signage and information screens. Du Wi-Fi covers the network.
Every regular train carries three cabin types: Gold Class at one end, a Women and Children cabin with pink signage, and Standard cabins. Door pictograms on the platform show where each cabin stops. The station has at least one bus connection, dedicated Metro Police, CCTV throughout, and emergency call points on every platform and train.
For the Dubai Water Canal boardwalk, use the south side exit and walk towards the JW Marriott Marquis. The path drops onto the canal a few minutes later, with the Tolerance Bridge to the right and the open run towards Safa Park to the left. The boardwalk is busy at sunset but quiet from mid-morning to early afternoon, even at weekends.
The canal that re-shaped the south side
The Dubai Water Canal opened on 9 November 2016, a 3.2 km cut from the Creek through Business Bay out to the sea at Jumeirah, with a 6.5 km running and cycling boardwalk along both banks. The opening was led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, and the project added three new bridges and a five-metre waterfall over Sheikh Zayed Road, as covered by Gulf News. The boardwalk has since become the easiest place in Downtown to walk away from the crowds: the path runs east towards the Creek and west to Safa Park, with views back to Burj Khalifa from the Jumeirah end.
The Tolerance Bridge, an architectural footbridge over the canal, opened in 2019 and links the Business Bay side to the Jumeirah side at the southern end of the cluster. It is signposted as a viewpoint as much as a crossing, and is well-lit after dark for safe evening walks.
A tower cluster built in fifteen years
Business Bay was empty desert in 2008, a master-planned business district on the south side of Sheikh Zayed Road. The first towers, including the Executive Towers and Bay Square, came up in 2010 and 2011. The anchor today is the JW Marriott Marquis, the twin tower hotel on the canal that held the Guinness record for the world’s tallest hotel from 2013 until it was overtaken by Gevora in Sheikh Zayed Road in 2018. The cluster also carries Coca-Cola Arena, the largest indoor venue in the Middle East, opened in 2019 by Sheikh Hamdan, with capacity for around 17,000.
A short, quiet hop to Downtown
The single-stop trip from Business Bay to Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall is one of the most-used non-tourist Metro hops in the city. Daytime workers from the Business Bay towers use it for lunch in Dubai Mall; evening visitors to Dubai Opera and the Fountain Show ride one stop back to a hotel. The trip takes about five minutes and is AED 3 on a Silver Nol card for a single zone, the cheapest Downtown adjacency you can buy. For peak-hour avoidance, the JW Marriott Marquis to Souk Al Bahar skybridge is a fifteen minute air-conditioned walk and is open whenever the towers are open.
From Business Bay to Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall is one stop. If the trains are crowded at peak hour, walking the air-conditioned skybridge from the JW Marriott Marquis side towards Downtown is about fifteen minutes and beats waiting on the platform. The bridge stays open whenever the towers are open.
Fares from Business Bay Station
Fares depend on how many zones your trip crosses, not how many stations you pass. A Silver Nol card costs AED 3 within one zone, AED 5 across two zones, and AED 7.50 for three or more zones, per the RTA Nol fares page. A personal Blue Nol card pays the same as Silver. Gold Class costs double: AED 6, 10 or 15 across the same bands.
Without a Nol card, the Red ticket is a separate, higher tariff of AED 4, 6 or 8.50 by zone band, and the blank ticket costs AED 2 to buy. Children aged five and under travel free, and travel is free for People of Determination.
| Destination | Stops | Zones | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall | 1 | 1 | AED 3.00 |
| Mall of the Emirates | 3 | 2 | AED 5.00 |
| Expo 2020 | 15 | 4 | AED 7.50 |
| Airport Terminal 3 | 13 | 2 | AED 5.00 |
| Union | 8 | 2 | AED 5.00 |
Metro Stations Before and After Business Bay Station
- Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall (R25): The stop after Business Bay on the Red Line going towards Centrepoint
- ONPASSIVE (R29): The stop after Business Bay on the Red Line going towards Expo 2020
Get a Dubai travel eSIM
A prepaid eSIM gives you data the moment you arrive, useful for the RTA S'hail app and live canal-side ride-share pickups.