No metro system on earth renames its stations like Dubai’s. Naming rights are a revenue model here, which means the map you memorised in 2019 – or the directions in a five-year-old forum answer – can be genuinely useless today. This is the complete rename history of the Dubai Metro, 2009 to 2026, in one table.
The complete rename table
| Station today | Code | Previously | Renamed |
|---|---|---|---|
| BurJuman | R19/G26 | Khalid Bin Al Waleed | 2011 |
| ADCB | R20 | Al Karama | 2011 |
| Sharaf DG | G25 | Al Fahidi | mid-2010s |
| UAE Exchange (now Life Pharmacy) | R42 | Jebel Ali | 2015 |
| Jabal Ali (now National Paints) | R38 | Nakheel Harbour & Tower | May 2020 |
| Max | R21 | Al Jafiliya | Nov 2020 |
| Al Safa (now ONPASSIVE) | R29 | Noor Bank / Noor Islamic Bank | Nov 2020 |
| Umm Al Sheif (now Equiti) | R31 | FAB / First Gulf Bank | Nov 2020 |
| Mashreq (now InsuranceMarket.ae) | R33 | Sharaf DG | Nov 2020 |
| Al Khail (now Al Fardan Exchange) | R35 | Nakheel | Nov 2020 |
| DAMAC Properties (now Sobha Realty) | R36 | Dubai Marina | Nov 2020 |
| DMCC | R37 | Jumeirah Lakes Towers | Nov 2020 |
| Gold Souq | G22 | Palm Deira | Nov 2020 |
| Centrepoint | R11 | Al Rashidiya | May 2021 |
| City Centre Deira | R16 | Deira City Centre | 2021 |
| ONPASSIVE | R29 | Al Safa | late 2021 |
| e& | G11 | Etisalat | Feb 2023 |
| Sobha Realty | R36 | DAMAC Properties | Feb 2023 |
| Equiti | R31 | Umm Al Sheif | Aug 2024 |
| InsuranceMarket.ae | R33 | Mashreq | Sep 2024 |
| Al Garhoud | R15 | GGICO | Apr 2025 |
| Al Fardan Exchange | R35 | Al Khail | Apr 2025 |
| Life Pharmacy | R42 | UAE Exchange | May 2025 |
| National Paints | R38 | Jabal Ali | Jul 2025 |
The three renames that confuse everyone
1. The two Jebel Alis. The original Jebel Ali station (2009) is today’s Life Pharmacy, at the far end of the Red Line – it became UAE Exchange in 2015, then Life Pharmacy in May 2025. Meanwhile a completely different station – Nakheel Harbour & Tower – was renamed Jabal Ali in 2020, then became National Paints in 2025. Two different stations have carried the Jebel Ali name; neither carries it now.
2. The travelling Sharaf DG. From 2010 the Red Line’s Al Barsha station was called Sharaf DG. In November 2020 it became Mashreq (now InsuranceMarket.ae) – and the Sharaf DG name moved to the Green Line’s old Al Fahidi station, where it lives today. If someone tells you “get off at Sharaf DG,” confirm which decade their knowledge is from.
3. Nakheel vs Nakheel Harbour & Tower. Two adjacent-sounding stations, both renamed in the same November 2020 wave, into Al Khail (now Al Fardan Exchange) and Jabal Ali (now National Paints) respectively. Old maps mixing them up are why half the “how do I get to JLT?” answers online route people to the wrong platform.
Why Dubai does this
Station naming rights are a straightforward funding mechanism: brands pay multi-year fees (the National Paints deal, for example, runs ten years) that offset network operating costs. The RTA pairs each commercial rename with a full signage, map, app and announcement update cycle – the July-October 2025 cycle for National Paints was the most recent. The practical downside lands on riders and, frankly, on the internet: most guides never catch up. Every station page on this site lists the current name and the full former-name chain, so directions from any era still resolve.
Bookmark this page – it grows with every deal. And when the Blue Line’s 14 planned names and the Gold Line’s 18 unannounced stations arrive, expect this table to get a lot longer.