Car Rentals From AED 80 Added at Etihad Rail Stations

Car rentals are now available at Etihad Rail’s Abu Dhabi and Fujairah passenger stations, with daily rates ranging from AED 80 to AED 200 depending on the vehicle category.

The new Rail to Road service is provided through Thrifty Car Rental’s Flexy product and includes fuel, a standard 60km allowance and no security deposit. Additional mileage can be purchased, while rentals run on a 24-hour basis rather than being tied to train schedules.

Passengers can book in advance or walk in without a minimum booking window. Payment cards are tokenised for processing instead of being used to hold a deposit, and an introductory offer is currently available to Etihad Rail commuters.

Vehicles are divided into three categories. Essential includes smaller models such as the Toyota Yaris, Baleno and Hyundai Accent, while Comfort covers larger sedans and compact SUVs including the Mazda CX-3, Hyundai Creta and Mazda 6. Stretch includes models such as the Audi A3, Mazda CX-90, Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Patrol and Jeep Wrangler.

The service is mainly designed for passengers to collect a vehicle at their arrival station and return it to the same location. Cars can also be returned to another Thrifty branch for an additional one-way fee.

Car rental has also been integrated into the Etihad Rail booking process, allowing passengers to add a vehicle after booking a train ticket.

The service forms part of a five-year partnership between Etihad Rail and Thrifty focused on first- and last-mile transport from passenger stations. Thrifty plans to invest more than AED 10 million over the period in fleet expansion, digital infrastructure and customer experience, beginning with an initial fleet of around 500 vehicles.

The wider rollout is expected to include digital kiosks and assistance desks across Etihad Rail’s 11 passenger stations as the network expands.