Union Metro Station

Union Metro Station Overview

First and last train from Union 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.

Union Station opening hours and facilities

Union 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

Union 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.

Al Ghurair Centre, the UAE’s oldest mall

Step out of Union and you are at Al Ghurair Centre, which opened in 1981 and is widely described as the oldest mall in the UAE and the first modern shopping centre in the Gulf, according to The National. A Dh2 billion expansion reopened in 2013 and nearly doubled its size.

It is a calmer, more local mall than the big destination centres, with a Carrefour, a wide food court, a cinema and an attached hotel. For most travellers it is simply the most comfortable place to start or end a walk around Deira.

Changing between the Red and Green lines

Union is one of two points where you can change lines, along with BurJuman further south. The Red and Green platforms are stacked inside the same building, so you follow the signs up or down to the line you want and stay inside the paid area the whole time. At rush hour the connecting corridors get busy, so allow a few extra minutes.

Old Dubai on foot: the Creek and the souqs

Deira is the trading quarter where modern Dubai grew up. From Union you can walk to Dubai Creek, where small wooden abras still ferry people across the water to Bur Dubai for a long-standing flat fare, paid in cash to the boatman. The gold, spice and perfume souqs sit a little to the north, closest to Gold Souq station two stops along the Green Line.

Fares from Union 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.

Metro Stations Before and After Union Station

• Al Rigga (R17): The stop after Union on the Red Line going towards Centrepoint
• Salah Al Din (G19): The stop after Union on the Green Line going towards Etisalat by e&
• BurJuman (R19): The stop after Union on the Red Line going towards Expo 2020
• Baniyas Square (G21): The stop after Union on the Green Line going towards Creek