The Gardens Metro Station Overview
The Gardens is the R70 station on the Dubai Metro Red Line, in Zone 3 on the Route 2020 branch after the line forks at National Paints (R38). It is the first station on this branch, between National Paints and Discovery Gardens (R71), serving the long-established low-rise residential communities on the western edge of old Jebel Ali.
The station opened to passengers on 1 January 2021 with the first wave of Route 2020 stations. To reach it from the city centre, board an Expo 2020 branded service at Centrepoint; a Life Pharmacy branded service takes the other branch at National Paints and will not stop here.
First and last train from The Gardens Station
These times come from the official RTA timetable. For the exact minute on the day you travel, the RTA S'hail app is the live source.
| Direction | First train | Last train |
|---|---|---|
| To Centrepoint | 5:03 AM daily | 12:03 AM (Mon to Wed, Sun) 12:00 AM (Thu, Sat) 1:05 AM (Fri) |
| To Expo 2020 | 5:08 AM daily | 11:02 PM (Mon to Wed, Sun) 11:08 PM (Thu to Sat) |
Book Expo City Dubai tickets
Entry to Expo City's gardens, pavilions and Al Wasl Plaza, with on-site cafes and family areas. One Metro ride down the Route 2020 branch.
The Gardens Station opening hours and facilities
The Gardens station keeps the standard RTA opening hours, the same right across the network:
- Monday to Thursday: 5:00 AM to 12:00 AM
- Friday: 5:00 AM to 1:00 AM
- Saturday: 5:00 AM to 12:00 AM
- Sunday: 8:00 AM to 12:00 AM
The Gardens has the standard Dubai Metro facilities, confirmed in the official RTA passenger guide. The station is step-free, with lifts to all levels, tactile guidance paths, and dedicated wheelchair spaces on every train. Nol card machines and a ticket counter sit inside the concourse, alongside bilingual signage and information screens. Du Wi-Fi covers the network.
Every regular train carries three cabin types: Gold Class at one end, a Women and Children cabin with pink signage, and Standard cabins. Door pictograms on the platform show where each cabin stops. The station has at least one bus connection, dedicated Metro Police, CCTV throughout, and emergency call points on every platform and train.
Confirm the direction before boarding at National Paints. Southbound services here split into Expo 2020 trains and Life Pharmacy trains at the preceding station. The front destination display is the simple check: Expo 2020 for this stop, Life Pharmacy for the other branch. Getting on the wrong branded service means doubling back through National Paints.
The 1 January 2021 Route 2020 opening
The Gardens is a Route 2020 original. Khaleej Times reported that four new stations on the Red Line extension entered commercial service on 1 January 2021, with The Gardens among them alongside Jebel Ali (now National Paints), Discovery Gardens and Al Furjan. The remaining stations on the branch, Dubai Investment Park and Expo 2020, opened later that year with Jumeirah Golf Estates following around the Expo site’s public opening.
The project turned the Red Line into a forked network for the first time. From 1 January 2021 onwards, southbound services at the fork needed to split by destination: Expo 2020 branded trains continuing onto the new branch through The Gardens, Life Pharmacy branded trains carrying on down the older spur. The arrangement is still in use, which is why the destination display on the front of a southbound train matters more at this station than at an ordinary trunk stop.
Route 2020 interior design: the four-element theme
The seven Route 2020 stations share a design vocabulary built around the four elements: air, earth, fire and water. Gulf News coverage of the Route 2020 interiors describes each station as drawing on these elemental motifs rather than the trunk Line’s uniform palette. The RTA framed the elements as a shared architectural language, so visitors riding the Expo branch end to end see a connected design story rather than a repeat of the same template.
The station exteriors, by contrast, were built as a variation on the standard Red and Green Line shells with four exterior families across the branch, keeping the overall network identity intact. The Expo 2020 terminus is the branch’s visual exception, with winged exteriors referencing the aviation theme of the Expo site itself.
The Gardens has a quieter all-day pattern than the busier Marina and Business Bay stations. If you have the option of walking or taking a feeder bus for your last 10 to 15 minutes rather than driving to Marina for the Metro, boarding here is noticeably calmer in evening peaks and still gets you into Downtown Dubai in about 40 minutes.
Fares from The Gardens Station
Fares depend on how many zones your trip crosses, not how many stations you pass. A Silver Nol card costs AED 3 within one zone, AED 5 across two zones, and AED 7.50 for three or more zones, per the RTA Nol fares page. A personal Blue Nol card pays the same as Silver. Gold Class costs double: AED 6, 10 or 15 across the same bands.
Without a Nol card, the Red ticket is a separate, higher tariff of AED 4, 6 or 8.50 by zone band, and the blank ticket costs AED 2 to buy. Children aged five and under travel free, and travel is free for People of Determination.
| Destination | Stops | Zones | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ibn Battuta | 2 | 2 | AED 5.00 |
| Expo 2020 | 5 | 3 | AED 7.50 |
| Mall of the Emirates | 7 | 2 | AED 5.00 |
| Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall | 11 | 3 | AED 7.50 |
| Airport Terminal 3 | 23 | 4 | AED 7.50 |
Metro Stations Before and After The Gardens Station
- National Paints (R38): The stop after The Gardens on the Red Line going towards Centrepoint
- Discovery Gardens (R71): The stop after The Gardens on the Red Line going towards Expo 2020
Get a UAE travel eSIM before you arrive
Prepaid eSIMs with same-day activation at Dubai airports, so your maps and translation apps work from the moment you land.