Dubai Ride 2026 Metro Timings: RTA Opens Metro @ 3am on 1 Nov

Dubai Ride 2026 Metro Timings

This guide helps you plan your ride morning around the train, whether you are riding, cheering or still collecting your bib. You will find the ride-day hours, the nearest station to each gate, the road closures and parking, and the easiest way home.

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What Time Does the Dubai Metro Open on 1 November?

The Dubai Metro opens at 3am on Sunday 1 November 2026. RTA announced it on the evening of Friday 30 October.

• Opening time: 3am. On a normal Sunday the first train runs at 8am.
• Closing time: RTA has not given one. In 2024 and 2025 the Metro ran until midnight on ride day.
• Fare: normal nol fares. RTA asks riders to keep at least AED 30 on their nol card to cover the trip there and back.

A 3am train gets you to your gate well inside the 4am to 6am arrival window. This chart shows how the morning fits together:

The green bars are the Metro. Without the early start, the first train would come after the ride is over.

The Normal Metro Timetable

These are RTA's regular hours for all Metro lines, as shown on rta.ae on 29 October 2026:

The Dubai Tram runs from 9am to 1am on Sundays, and from 6am on other days. The tram does not reach any Dubai Ride gate. It only helps if you ride it to a Red Line station. RTA has not announced early buses or trams for the ride.

Dubai Ride Metro Hours in Past Years

On Sunday 2 November 2025, the Dubai Metro ran from 3am to midnight for Dubai Ride. That was five hours earlier than a normal Sunday. RTA said it set the hours "to facilitate journeys to and from Dubai Ride". The year before, on Sunday 10 November 2024, the Metro also ran from 3am to midnight.

So 2026 is the third ride in a row with a 3am start. RTA has not offered free Metro travel in any of these years, so riders pay normal nol fares.

Can You Take Your Bike on the Dubai Metro?

No. Bikes are not allowed on the Dubai Metro on Dubai Ride morning. The official Dubai Fitness Challenge FAQ says so. It also says public transport runs as normal. If you ride your own bike, you get to your gate on the bike, or by car with the bike inside or on a rear rack.

That leaves the Metro for the people who are not carrying a bike:

Riders Who Rent a Careem Bike

If you plan to rent a Careem Bike near your gate, take the Metro to a station close to the start and pick up the bike there.

Careem Bike will give riders their first 120 minutes free on Sunday 1 November, for bikes unlocked from 5am to 8am, with no promo code (announced by Careem and Sarwa on 30 October 2026). Pop-up stations will be at Gate A, Museum of the Future, and Gate E, Lower Financial Centre Street. In 2025, RTA and Careem gave riders a free trip with the code DR25. Our Dubai Ride bike rental guide has the prices and the steps to unlock a bike.

Nearest Metro Station to Each Dubai Ride Gate

Every Dubai Ride gate is a short walk from the Red Line. The 12km route runs along Sheikh Zayed Road, right under the Metro. Here is the closest station to each gate and how long the walk takes:

• Gate A, Museum of the Future: Emirates Towers, about 300m or 5 minutes on foot. World Trade Centre is the next stop.
• Gate B, Al Satwa: Emirates Towers or Financial Centre. Allow 10 to 20 minutes.
• Gate C, Coca-Cola Arena: Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, about 450m in a straight line, or 10 to 15 minutes.
• Gate D, Business Bay: Business Bay, about 600m to Bay Avenue, or 10 minutes.
• Gate E, Lower Financial Centre Street: Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, about 400m to the road, or 10 to 15 minutes. Financial Centre is the next stop.
• Gate F, Emaar Boulevard/Dubai Mall: Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, about 400m to the Boulevard, or 10 to 15 minutes.

We measured each walk on a map, from the station to the landmark that names the gate. The exact gate entrance is on the route map in your rider email. Look at it before you set off, and add a few minutes.

Some of these walks need extra care:

• Gate B, Al Satwa, is the hardest gate to reach by Metro. Satwa has no station of its own, and the organisers have not said exactly where the gate is.
• Gate C, Coca-Cola Arena, is in City Walk, across Sheikh Zayed Road from Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station. The arena says the walk takes "a few short minutes". Other guides say about 15.
• Gates E and F both use Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station. Most people walk into Downtown along the long covered bridge to Dubai Mall. We could not confirm that this bridge is open before the mall opens. At 5am, you may need to walk round by the street.
• Taxis cannot drop you at Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station. RTA has closed its bus and taxi road for building works until the end of 2026.

Metro to Dubai Ride Bib Collection

For bib collection, take the Red Line to Max station. The rider email gives this advice. Bibs and T-shirts are handed out at the Dubai Municipality 30x30 Fitness Village in Zabeel Park, Gate 2. Saturday 31 October is the last day. There is no collection on ride morning.

The Metro runs late on both of the last collection days, so the train works for every slot:

Bring the QR code from your registration. Someone else can collect your bib for you if they have your code. Our Dubai Ride bib collection guide has the full rules.

Dubai Ride Road Closures, Parking and Salik

Sheikh Zayed Road starts closing at about 3am on Sunday 1 November. The official rider email of 31 October also says Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard in Downtown closes from about 5:30am to 10am. Roads reopen bit by bit after the ride, once they are clear.

RTA has named car parks for riders who drive:

• RTA: Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai Mall and Zabeel parking
• Parkin: City Walk barrierless parking, Trade Centre First (335AP) and Trade Centre Second (336AP)
• Parkonic: Dubai Opera, Souk Al Bahar and Emaar Boulevard

Salik charges its peak toll on ride morning: AED 6 a gate from 6am to 10am and from 4pm to 8pm, AED 4 from 10am to 4pm and from 8pm to 1am, and nothing from 1am to 6am. Our Dubai Ride route guide has the parking for each gate and the entry times.

Getting Home After Dubai Ride

The route closes at 8am, and a normal Sunday Metro service starts at the same time. So the trains will be running when you finish, whatever RTA announces. How you get home depends on whether you have your own bike with you:

If you came by car, the rider email warns that you may have to stay parked until all the cyclists have cleared the routes. The email says the roads reopen bit by bit after the ride, and the Boulevard in Downtown stays closed until about 10am. So a family member on the Metro may get home before the driver does.