Fujairah's Etihad Rail passenger station has become the first on the network to be completed, in a landmark moment for the country's biggest infrastructure project.
Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Ruler of Fujairah, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, and Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes' Affairs, and chairman of Etihad Rail, on Tuesday visited the “first completed passenger station on the Etihad Rail network”, state news agency Wam reported.
They also reviewed the services to be offered to passengers when full operations begin, Wam said.
Video of the visit posted to Etihad Rail social media pages showed the striking exterior of the station in Fujairah’s Sakamkam neighbourhood, near Al Hilal City, the soaring interior and ticket machines. Sheikh Theyab was shown a ticket for a trip from Fujairah to Abu Dhabi.
The train then carried the delegation out of the station with the mountains of the emirate in the background.
Anticipation is building for the launch of passenger services that Etihad Rail said will start this year.
Etihad Rail said in January that the first services will connect Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah in the network's opening phase.
Passengers can expect frequent trains on the Abu Dhabi to Dubai line, with the route to Fujairah bolstering tourism and access to the east coast.
Travel times of about an hour between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and 90 minutes between Abu Dhabi and Fujairah are expected, although a precise time table is still being worked out.
The other two stations on this first route are in Mohamed bin Zayed City in Abu Dhabi and Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. Construction crews are working around the clock to complete the stations.
Details of ticket prices are also yet to be revealed.
The wider Etihad Rail passenger network will eventually stretch across the country with 11 stations announced so far.
It is not yet clear when all these will open but Etihad Rail previously said they will become “operational in phases”.
“The UAE’s rail network has been explicitly designed to anticipate the needs of a growing nation,” Azza Al Suwaidi, deputy chief executive of Etihad Rail Mobility, previously told The National.
“Station locations … have been chosen to complement existing population centres, as well as areas which have been intentionally and deliberately allocated for future development.”
Etihad Rail last year announced details of a separate, electrified, high-speed passenger service between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. A launch date was not revealed but the line aims to cut the journey time between the two emirates to 30 minutes.
A map of Dubai's future transport network shared by the emirate's Roads and Transport Authority in April showed this future line passing by the Expo 2020 site and on to Al Jaddaf on the shores of the Creek.
On Tuesday, Sheikh Hamad, Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Theyab also reviewed the progress of the Emirates Council for Balanced Development projects in Qidfa, which form part of work to develop UAE villages.
Plans for the village include raising its profile to attract 100,000 tourists each year and increasing training for its young people.
