Expo 2020 Metro Station Overview
Expo 2020 is the southern terminus of the Dubai Metro Red Line, in Zone 1. It is station R76, after Dubai Investment Park, and it sits at the southern end of the Route 2020 branch built to serve the world's fair in 2021.
The station exits straight into the main Expo City entrance, with the Al Wasl Plaza dome a few minutes' walk away. It opened in 2021 with the Route 2020 extension, and during the Expo itself (October 2021 to March 2022) it ran the densest service the Dubai Metro has ever carried, with trains every minute or two at peak.
First and last train from Expo 2020 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 | 5:08 AM (Mon to Wed, Sun) 5:02 AM (Thu, Fri) 5:00 AM (Sat) | 11:48 PM (Mon to Wed, Sat, Sun) 11:49 PM (Thu, Fri) |
Book Expo City Dubai tickets
The Expo 2020 site is now Expo City Dubai. Pre book entry and attractions to skip the queues on arrival and lock in time at the main pavilions.
Expo 2020 Station opening hours and facilities
Expo 2020 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
Expo 2020 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.
Heading back into the city in the evening? The platform fills up after big events at Expo City, so for a guaranteed seat, walk to the front carriages on the platform once a train comes in. The Gold Class cabin and the Women and Children carriage are at the front, with Standard at the back.
The terminus built for the world’s fair
Expo 2020 station opened on 1 June 2021 as the southern end of the new Route 2020 branch, the roughly AED 11 billion Red Line extension built specifically to serve the Expo 2020 site. The fair ran from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, and the station carried millions of visitors during that period, with peak services running roughly every minute.
After the fair closed, the site was renamed Expo City Dubai and many of its pavilions, public spaces and the Al Wasl Plaza dome stayed open. The station kept its name and remains the terminus of the line, with trains running back into the city through the rest of the Route 2020 branch.
Inside Expo City
The station sits at the main entrance to Expo City Dubai. The Al Wasl Plaza dome, the central public space at the fair, is the closest landmark and a few minutes’ walk from the exit. From there the layout opens out into the three districts the fair was built around: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability, each with the country pavilions that stayed open after 2022.
Expo City covers around 4.4 square kilometres, so plan your day around what you most want to see. The covered walkways are the comfortable route in summer, when daytime temperatures keep most visitors moving between shaded buildings rather than the open plazas. Lifts are signposted at the main junctions for buggy and wheelchair access.
Getting back to the city
The Red Line is your only direct route back from Expo City. Most trains run straight through to the city centre with no change of train, but the Life Pharmacy branch is the exception: for Ibn Battuta and the other Life Pharmacy stops you change at National Paints (R38) onto the short shuttle.
From here, Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall in Downtown is sixteen stops for AED 7.50, around 40 minutes. Mall of the Emirates is twelve stops for the same fare. For the airport, Airport Terminal 3 is twenty-eight stops away, around an hour, also at AED 7.50. The Friday-night last train from Expo 2020 runs at 11:49pm towards Centrepoint, earlier than the city-centre stations because the train still has to cover the long line back, so plan the return leg of a late evening if you do not want to taxi back.
Expo City is large. Allow at least twenty minutes from the platform to most pavilions, and longer in summer when the covered walkways are the only comfortable route. Carry water, and use the lifts if you have a buggy or a wheelchair, since some of the elevated walkways have stairs at the ends.
Fares from Expo 2020 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 | 16 | 4 | AED 7.50 |
| Mall of the Emirates | 12 | 3 | AED 7.50 |
| Airport Terminal 3 | 28 | 5 | AED 7.50 |
| Union | 23 | 5 | AED 7.50 |
| Ibn Battuta | 7 | 3 | AED 7.50 |
Metro Stations Before and After Expo 2020 Station
- Dubai Investment Park (R74): The stop after Expo 2020 on the Red Line going towards Centrepoint
Get a Dubai travel eSIM before you land
A prepaid eSIM gives you data the moment you arrive, useful for the Expo City app, ride-share back to the hotel and live RTA times.