Mall of the Emirates

Few stations sum up Dubai's love of the improbable quite like Mall of the Emirates. Step off the train and a covered bridge carries you straight into the mall that gave the station its name, and somewhere beyond the shopfronts there is a full indoor ski slope with real snow. That the desert heat outside can top forty degrees while penguins waddle indoors is exactly the kind of contrast that draws visitors here, and the metro puts them right at the door.

Beyond the retail, this is the anchor stop for Al Barsha, a busy residential and hotel district that has grown up around the mall. On weekends the platforms carry a real mix, families heading for the slopes and the cinema, shoppers after the designer floors, and tourists staying in the surrounding hotels who use the station as their base for reaching the rest of the city.

Station Overview

Mall of the Emirates Metro Station opened in 2009 on the Dubai Metro Red Line and sits in Zone 2 of the NOL fare system. Its driverless, automated trains run above the road, as this is an elevated station connected to the mall by a bridge.

Lines and Connectivity

Mall of the Emirates is a Red Line station. North-east the line heads for Downtown, Deira and the Centrepoint terminus, and south-west it continues towards the Marina, Ibn Battuta and the Route 2020 branch. The Green Line is reached by changing at BurJuman or Union for Deira and Bur Dubai.

Station Layout and Structure

The station is elevated, and its most useful feature is the enclosed, air-conditioned link bridge running from the concourse into the upper level of the mall. Lifts, escalators and stairs connect concourse and platform, and facilities include toilets, ATMs, NOL machines, small shops and a staffed information desk. Gold Class carriages sit at the front of each train, with a women and children carriage in the middle.

Accessibility

Mall of the Emirates has full step-free access. Lifts link street level, the concourse and the platform, and the bridge into the mall is level, so wheelchair users and families with pushchairs reach the shops without stairs. Tactile paving, audio announcements and platform screen doors are all present.

Travel Tips

• The covered bridge takes you straight into the mall's upper level, so you never step out into the heat.
• Ski Dubai inside the mall is the obvious highlight, with penguin encounters as well as the slopes.
• This is one of the busiest stations on the network at weekends, so allow extra time at the gates.
• A NOL card costs AED 25 including AED 19 of credit and works on metro, bus, tram and marine transport.
• For the Green Line, change at BurJuman or Union.
• Trains run Saturday to Wednesday 05:00-00:00, Thursday 05:00-01:00 and Friday 08:00-01:00.

Nearby Attractions

Mall of the Emirates - linked to the station by the air-conditioned bridge, a major mall with designer floors, a cinema and a community theatre.

Ski Dubai - inside the mall, an indoor ski resort with real snow, slopes and a colony of penguins.

Al Barsha - around the station, a residential and hotel district with parks, restaurants and easy-access lodging.

Timings and Best Time to Travel

Trains at Mall of the Emirates run Saturday to Wednesday 05:00-00:00, Thursday 05:00-01:00 and Friday 08:00-01:00. Weekday rush hours are around 07:30-09:30 and 17:00-19:30, but the real crowds come on Friday and weekend afternoons and evenings when the mall fills up. For a quieter visit, arrive on a weekday morning.