Dubai Metro Gold Line tender: EOI closed, what comes next

Published 4 July 2026 · Updated 25 September 2026

Dubai Metro Gold Line milestones from the April 2026 announcement to the September 2032 opening — Official Gold Line procurement and delivery milestones.

Update — 25 September 2026: the trade publications MEED and Arabian Business report that the RTA has extended the deadline for contractors’ prequalification statements on the Gold Line to 9 October 2026, after earlier reported dates of 17 August and 7 September. This contractor prequalification is a separate step from the Expression of Interest that closed on 31 July. The RTA has not published the new date on its public Gold Line pages, so we treat it as reported rather than confirmed and keep it out of our official milestone table until it does.

Correction — 26 August 2026: an earlier version of this article reported a 17 August contractor-qualification deadline. The official RTA investment page gives 31 July 2026 as the Expression of Interest deadline. We corrected the headline, timeline and article. We have found no official shortlist announcement as of this update.

The first public procurement step for the Dubai Metro Gold Line has closed. Companies interested in designing and building the AED 34 billion line were invited by the RTA to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) by 31 July 2026.

That is not the main construction tender and it is not a shortlist announcement. It is an early market-engagement stage. The next confirmed milestones are the main tender in 2026 and contract award in 2027.

What is confirmed now

31 July 2026: EOI submission deadline — closed.
2026: main construction tender scheduled for issuance.
2027: contract award scheduled.
After award: construction begins.
9 September 2032: scheduled passenger opening.

The 2026 tender, 2027 award and 2032 opening dates come from the RTA’s Gold Line announcement. We will not name bidders or a shortlist until the RTA publishes them.

What the EOI stage does

An Expression of Interest lets the RTA identify qualified companies with the financial capacity, design experience and tunnelling record needed for a 42-kilometre, fully underground metro project. It is a precursor to the formal tender; submitting an EOI does not itself mean a company has been shortlisted or awarded work.

The confirmed Gold Line project

The RTA says the Gold Line will have 18 stations across 42 km and will be Dubai’s first fully underground metro line. It will connect the Red and Green lines and integrate with Etihad Rail. The project is expected to serve more than 1.5 million people by 2040 and carry 465,000 passengers per day beyond 2040.

The authority projects a 23% reduction in crowding on the Red Line between BurJuman and ONPASSIVE (renamed Garmin in September 2026), and says the expanded network will grow from 120 km to 162 km when the Blue Line is included.

What is still unannounced

No official bidder shortlist or complete station list has been published as of 26 August 2026. The RTA has confirmed the broad corridor and the project totals, but location lists inferred from planning maps remain unconfirmed. Our Gold Line tracker separates confirmed facts from speculation and will be updated after the next official milestone.

What happens next

Prequalification narrows the field to contractors the RTA judges capable of delivering a 42 km, fully underground line; those firms are then invited to bid in the main tender. According to the same reports, the work covers the design and build of civil works, electromechanical equipment, rolling stock and rail systems. We will update this article when the RTA confirms the prequalification outcome or issues the main tender.