Dubai RTA studies an underground network for passengers, goods and services

Dubai's transport authority, the RTA, is examining an integrated underground system that would carry passengers, goods and services below the city. Director General Mattar Al Tayer presented the idea at the Mohammed bin Rashid Leadership Forum 2026. The network is still being studied. Routes, capacity, costs and a timetable have not been announced.

Al Tayer said the emirate is reshaping how people travel across three layers: below ground, at street level and in the air. The underground concept sits alongside Dubai Loop, a proposed tunnel system for electric vehicles that the RTA is developing with The Boring Company.

Two rail projects are already in motion. The Dh20.5 billion Dubai Metro Blue Line runs 30 km with 14 stations, and about 15.5 km of it is underground. It is designed to serve communities such as Mirdif, Al Warqa and International City, with interchanges to the existing Metro. Gulf News lists its completion date as 9 September 2029. The Dh34 billion Metro Gold Line was announced in April 2026. According to Al Tayer, the leadership ordered work on it to start at once.

Above ground, Dubai has set a target of 25 per cent of journeys being autonomous by 2030. Al Tayer said driverless taxis have covered more than four million kilometres in the emirate. In 2026 Dubai held an urban air taxi test flight and opened its first air taxi station.

Al Tayer also gave the demand figures behind the plan. Over six million people travel around the emirate during a day, and he expects that to double by 2040. Roads handle more than 11 million trips daily, about 7,000 every minute. The RTA is developing 100 artificial intelligence products, which he said will free up capacity equal to 500 employees.

For tenants and buyers, the Blue Line is the nearest change. Those considering Mirdif or Al Warqa are looking at areas the line is designed to serve. The underground network has no routes yet, so it cannot be used to judge a location.

Gulf News reported the details on 14 October.