Overview
- Etihad Rail announced on Monday that Thrifty Car Rental UAE will be its exclusive car-rental partner for five years with an initial fleet of about 500 vehicles and a planned investment of more than Dh10 million.
- Passengers will be able to book cars through Etihad Rail’s app and Thrifty’s platform and each of the network’s 11 passenger stations will have a digital rental kiosk and a physical assistance desk.
- Since passenger services began on June 30, more than 70,000 tickets have been sold and travellers are booking trips an average of 12 days ahead, signalling steady, planned use beyond one-off visits.
- Each train holds up to 400 passengers so sales so far equal roughly 175 full trainloads and Etihad Rail says it will add capacity as needed while it opens new stations on a phased schedule through March 30, 2027.
- Early riders include families, business travellers, school groups, tourists and People of Determination and the new rental, bus and taxi links, plus planned AI booking tools, could broaden onward mobility and support tourism and commuter use.