Spotted in Dubai: New train being tested on Etihad Rail tracks

A resident of a community in Dubai’s Al Qudra area has managed to capture the test runs of new trains on the tracks of the Etihad Rail. “For the past two or three days, I have been seeing the new trains on the track,” said Zamaqshari Zubair, a resident of Nshama townhouses near Al Qudra. “It looks very impressive.”

Zubair said he thought it was a passenger trains. However, Etihad Rail clarified that it was a freight train. According to the resident, the wagons were closed, leading him to believe they were the highly anticipated passenger ones.

Residents living in communities around the Al Qudra area, where the Etihad rail tracks run through Dubai, have been able to see the tracks progressing and test runs being conducted on a regular basis. These include those staying in Remraam, Mudon, Mira and Town Square communities.

Some residents had earlier told Khaleej Times how hearing the sounds of the train bring back memories from their home countries.

Fouad Ashraf, a resident of Arabella in Mudon, said: “I was able to recognise that it was a train because I am used to listening to [the sound of] trains in India. To be honest, it [feel] very nostalgic. Back home, I used to hear the trains all the time when I was living in my college hostel. Since then, I hear them regularly, particularly in the morning around 7.30am.”

A futuristic and sleek-looking passenger train was first displayed during the 51st National Day celebrations in Abu Dhabi. During the epic celebrations in Abu Dhabi in December last year, the first prototype of the passenger train rolled in, as the audience waved and cheered.

The rail operator also took to Twitter to share a video, showing a train moving on a railway track:

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