ONPASSIVE Metro Station Overview

ONPASSIVE is a Red Line station in Zone 2, on the south side of Sheikh Zayed Road at Al Safa. It is station R29, between Business Bay on the east side and Equiti on the west side.

The station serves the Al Quoz industrial and warehouse district, which has grown into one of the city's main creative quarters over the past decade. Alserkal Avenue, the warehouse art and design complex, is the anchor destination and the reason most non-commute riders come to this stop.

First and last train from ONPASSIVE 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.

DirectionFirst trainLast train
To Centrepoint 5:18 AM daily 12:27 AM (Mon to Wed, Sun)
12:26 AM (Thu, Fri)
12:23 AM (Sat)
To Expo 2020 5:00 AM (Mon to Sat)
8:04 AM (Sun)
11:27 PM (Mon to Wed)
11:23 PM (Thu, Sat, Sun)
12:27 AM (Fri)
To Life Pharmacy 5:11 AM (Mon to Sat)
8:02 AM (Sun)
11:23 PM (Mon to Wed)
11:27 PM (Thu, Sat, Sun)
12:23 AM (Fri)
First and last train at ONPASSIVE, from the official RTA timetable. Times can shift by a minute or two on the day, so check the RTA S'hail app for the exact last train.
In the quarter

Book an Alserkal Avenue tour

Guided walks through the warehouse gallery cluster explain the art and design cluster's history and current exhibitions. Most tours start on Saturdays and run about 90 minutes.

See tour options

ONPASSIVE Station opening hours and facilities

ONPASSIVE 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

ONPASSIVE 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.

From a Dubai resident

For Alserkal Avenue, take a taxi from the station rank rather than walking. The complex is about 3 km south from the station through the warehouse district, and while the walk is possible in the cooler months, the roads are laid out for trucks, not pedestrians. An off-peak taxi is AED 12 to 18 and takes about seven minutes.

Three names in fifteen years

The station opened with the Red Line on 9 September 2009 as Noor Bank, sponsored by the Islamic bank of the same name. That was the station’s opening sponsor. In 2021 the Noor Bank agreement ended and the RTA renamed the stop to Al Safa, after the district it serves. In 2022 the ONPASSIVE sponsor deal took the naming rights, and the station has carried the current name since. Through all three names the code has stayed R29, and route announcements have run a few months behind the platform signage on each change. Older printed maps and guidebooks may show any of the earlier names.

Al Quoz, the warehouse quarter that became a creative one

Al Quoz, the district south of the station, was for its first two decades a working industrial zone of warehouses, workshops, car mechanics and logistics yards. From about 2010 the warehouses along Alserkal Avenue began to convert to art galleries, and the cluster grew into what The National has called the creative quarter that changed Dubai’s art scene. The 30-plus galleries anchor the site, alongside design studios, independent cinemas, cafes and a permanent programme of exhibitions. The complex is open all week, with Saturday the busiest gallery-walk day. From the station, a short taxi is the sensible way to reach it; the walk is possible but the streets are truck-scale.

The park on the other side

Directly north of the station, across Sheikh Zayed Road, is Al Safa Park, one of the city’s oldest urban parks. The station’s north-side exit connects to a footbridge over the highway that drops onto the park’s east gate. Al Safa Park has running tracks, a boating lake, a Friday farmers’ market and a large open lawn used for outdoor concerts, and it has been a fixture for weekend joggers and families since it opened in the 1970s. The park is free of charge on weekdays and has a small entry fee on Fridays and Saturdays. For a slow morning, the ONPASSIVE stop is one of the easier Metro-to-park loops in the city.

From a Dubai resident

ONPASSIVE is the network's most-renamed station: Noor Bank at Metro opening, then Al Safa from 2021, then ONPASSIVE under the current sponsor. Older signs, printed maps and voice announcements may still use any of the previous names. The station code (R29) has stayed the same, so it is the safest reference if a map is out of date.

Fares from ONPASSIVE 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.

DestinationStopsZonesFare
Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall 2 2 AED 5.00
Mall of the Emirates 2 1 AED 3.00
Expo 2020 14 3 AED 7.50
Airport Terminal 3 14 3 AED 7.50
Union 9 3 AED 7.50
Silver Nol card fares from ONPASSIVE, from the validated fare matrix. For any other destination, use the fare calculator.

Metro Stations Before and After ONPASSIVE Station

  • Business Bay (R26): The stop after ONPASSIVE on the Red Line going towards Centrepoint
  • Equiti (R31): The stop after ONPASSIVE on the Red Line going towards Expo 2020
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