Etihad Rail’s long-awaited passenger services begin next week, with tickets now on sale for the inaugural cross-emirate journey from Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed City station to Fujairah’s Al Hilal City station. As of yesterday, only limited seats remained for the June 30 trips, reflecting strong initial demand. While rail travel in the Middle East dates back to the 19th century with lines like the Alexandria-Cairo railway and the Hejaz Railway, those networks historically focused on trade, imperial control, and industrialisation rather than daily public transport. The UAE’s new system represents a carefully calculated evolution for a nation built around car culture and world-class aviation, aiming to make rail travel as routine as road trips between emirates.