Dubai Metro Interchange Stations

Union and BurJuman, the two metro interchanges

Union carries the code R18 on the Red Line and G20 on the Green, sits in Zone 5 on the Deira side of the creek, and is entirely underground. BurJuman is R19 and G26, sits in Zone 6 on the Bur Dubai side, and is underground as well. Both opened with their respective lines, Union in 2009 for the Red platforms and 2011 for the Green, BurJuman on the same pattern.

The two are one Red Line stop apart, which gives you a choice on almost every cross city trip. Union is the better change for Dubai International, Al Rigga and the northern Red Line. BurJuman is the better change for Downtown, Business Bay, Mall of the Emirates and everything down to the Marina. The wrong choice costs you a stop in the wrong direction plus the wait for the next train.

Both are also among the busiest stations on the network. BurJuman handled 17.8 million riders in 2025, the highest of any station, and Union 13.6 million. At 08:00 and 18:00 the platform crowd at both is heavy enough that you may need to let a train go.

Do you tap out to change lines?

No. At Union and BurJuman the change happens inside the paid area, so you walk between platforms without touching a gate. The system sees one journey from your entry tap to your exit tap, and the fare is worked out from the zones your whole path touched.

That matters for the price as much as for convenience. Creek to Business Bay means a Green Line ride, a change at BurJuman and a Red Line ride, and every station on the way is in Zone 6, so it costs AED 3 on a Silver card. A change of line never adds a zone by itself. The fare rules are set out in full here.

The tram links work differently. DMCC to Jumeirah Lakes Towers and Sobha Realty to Dubai Marina both involve leaving the metro gate line, crossing a footbridge and tapping onto the tram. RTA counts the two legs as one journey when the second tap comes within 30 minutes of the first check out, up to 3 transfers inside 180 minutes.

One habit saves money on the tram links: tap out and walk straight across rather than stopping for coffee first. The clock runs from the check out, not from the moment you leave the platform, and a 35 minute pause turns one fare into two. The rule is generous otherwise, covering metro, tram and bus legs in any order.

How long a change actually takes

RTA publishes no interchange times, so the figures on this site are our own. We allow 6 minutes at Union and BurJuman, made up of roughly three minutes for the platform walk and three for an average wait, and 8 minutes for either tram link, where the footbridge walk is longer and tram headways are wider.

Real times vary more than that suggests. Union has the Red and Green platforms on different levels, and the walk between them with a suitcase at peak can run past five minutes on its own. The tram links are the ones to pad, because the footbridge at DMCC is long, exposed at both ends and slow going in July.

Anyone timing a connection to the last train of the night should add a margin. Station closing time is 00:00 Monday to Thursday, but the last train from a terminus leaves much earlier, and a missed connection at BurJuman at 23:30 leaves you looking for a taxi. Station by station last train times come straight from the RTA timetable.

Metro to tram at DMCC and Sobha Realty

DMCC on the Red Line connects to the Jumeirah Lakes Towers tram stop, which is the tram's northern terminus, so every tram there is starting its run and you will get a seat. Sobha Realty connects to the Dubai Marina tram stop in the middle of the route, closer to Marina Mall and the JBR beach end.

Both metro stations and all 11 tram stops sit in Zone 2, so a metro ride down Sheikh Zayed Road followed by a tram leg into the Marina stays in the same fare tier as the metro ride alone, provided the transfer window holds. A Gold card is not charged its premium twice for the same zone on that transfer either. The tram guide covers routes and hours.

Palm Jumeirah tram stop connects to the Palm Monorail at Palm Gateway, which is a separate service from the metro and tram with its own ticketing. Plan that leg on its own terms rather than assuming a NOL card will carry you through to Atlantis.

Neither tram link is signposted as an interchange in the way Union is. At DMCC you leave through the gate line, follow signs for Jumeirah Lakes Towers and cross a footbridge over Sheikh Zayed Road; at Sobha Realty the bridge lands you beside the Marina tram platform. Both are straightforward once, and confusing the first time.

New interchanges coming with the Blue Line

The Blue Line opens on 9 September 2029 and creates two more interchanges. It will meet the Green Line at Creek, currently a quiet terminus in Al Jaddaf, and the Red Line at centrepoint, currently the northern end of the trunk. Both stations turn from dead ends into junctions, which changes how trips across the east of the city are routed.

The Gold Line, approved on 22 April 2026 for a 2032 opening, adds more: it runs from Al Ghubaiba on the Green Line to Jumeirah Golf Estates on the Route 2020 branch, by way of Business Bay. Neither line exists yet, and the route planner works only on track carrying passengers today.

Until then, the pattern of the network stays what it has been since 2011: two lines, two crossing points and a tram that touches the Red Line twice. Anyone planning a move across the city on public transport alone should check that pattern first, because a trip that needs two changes today may need none in 2029.