The Red Line station between Business Bay and Equiti has a new name. On 7 September 2026 the RTA granted Garmin the naming rights to ONPASSIVE Metro Station under a ten-year agreement, and the stop is now Garmin Metro Station (in Arabic, محطة مترو جارمن). Nothing about the station itself changes — same location on Sheikh Zayed Road, same code, same fares — but for the next few weeks you will see and hear two names for it.
What changes, and when
According to the Dubai Media Office announcement, the RTA is updating the name in four places between September and the end of November 2026:
- external signage and the internal and outdoor directional signs across the network;
- the digital smart systems in stations;
- the RTA’s public transport apps;
- onboard audio announcements, before and on arrival at the station.
Until that rollout is complete, expect a mix: a train announcement may still say “ONPASSIVE” while a new sign on the platform says “Garmin”. Both refer to the same stop, code R29 on the Red Line.
What riders need to know
- Your journey does not change. Trains, platforms, exits and fares are exactly as before. The station stays in fare zone 2, so a ride from Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall is a 2-zone trip (AED 5 on a Silver Nol card), and hops to Mall of the Emirates or the Marina cluster are 1-zone AED 3 rides.
- Watch the name on older directions. Hotel emails, maps and taxi drivers may use any of the station’s past names. If someone says Noor Bank, Al Safa or ONPASSIVE, they mean this station.
- Alserkal Avenue is still your stop for Al Quoz. The arts district is a short taxi or a 20–25 minute walk inland from the station.
- Heading south, check the branch. Beyond National Paints the Red Line splits: trains signed Expo 2020 and trains signed Life Pharmacy take different branches.
Five names in sixteen years
Few stations tell the story of Dubai’s naming-rights era better. It opened in 2010 as Noor Islamic Bank, was shortened to Noor Bank, became Al Safa in the November 2020 renaming wave, was sold to the technology company ONPASSIVE in January 2023, and is now Garmin. Our complete rename history has the full table for every station on the network.
Why it matters beyond one station
The RTA launched its station naming-rights initiative in 2009 and describes it as the first of its kind globally. Most sponsors so far have been UAE banks, retailers and developers; the RTA says Garmin is the first global brand to secure naming rights on the Dubai Metro. Abdul Mohsen Kalbat, CEO of the RTA’s Rail Agency, said Garmin’s arrival “reaffirms” the initiative’s success in attracting leading brands from a range of business sectors. The deal was secured through AMIT Retail LLC, Garmin’s sole distributor in the UAE.
For riders, the practical lesson is the one this site is built around: station names in Dubai change, so always check a station’s code and line as well as its name. Our Garmin station guide, the network map and the station rename database already show the new name alongside the old one, and old names still redirect to the right page.