The Metro network will be fully integrated within the network operated by the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), a body created in 2005. Routes will be organised around the backbone provided by the rail system. Taxi stations and park-and-ride facilities will be included in key Metro stations to further enhance the system's role.

Groundworks began in February 2006, centred around the 52.1km Red Line. In August 2006 a second contract worth US$.12bn was awarded to the MHI consortium for building the 17.6km Green Line, intersecting with Red Line at two stations.

Green Line will link strategic locations Dubai Airport and Healthcare City. The aim is to open in 2010, one year after the Red Line. In June 2007 Serco (operator of the London Docklands Light Railway) was named as preferred bidder for initial consultation and the system’s operation and maintenance. The L400m contract, potentially for up to 12 ½ years, relates to the first two lines.

The 52.1km (32.5 mile) Red Line will have 29 stations, four of which will be underground. It will run from Rashidiva to Jebel Ali passing the American University of Dubai. It is planned that the first phase will open in 2009. The whole 52.1km is expected to take 60 minutes to travel, with an estimated 32,000 passengers per hour.

The 17.6km Green Line which will have 14 stations – six underground and eight at ground level – from Al Ittihad Square to Rashidiya bus station through Deira City Centre and Dubai Airport Terminals 1 and 3. It will be progressively extended to serve the Deira and Bur Dubai central areas and Souks up to Burjuman and Wafi shopping centres. Interchange stations will be built at Al Ittihad Square and Burjuman with direct connections to the Red Line.

Underground sections in the city centre are on the Red Line from the intersection of Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed roads to just before the intersection of Salahuddin and Abu Bakr Al Siddique roads and from Garhoud to Oud Metha Road on the Green Line.

Elsewhere, trains will run on elevated viaducts, the design and aesthetics developed specifically to enhance the urban architecture along its corridor. In no location will tracks cross highways, ensuring full mode segregation. A key objective is to minimise the impact on road traffic and on city life during the works. Underground works will be carried out without affecting buildings, and authorities have stated that residents will not be disturbed by excavation work. Visually intrusive overhead contact lines are obviated a third rail collection system. All stations, elevated or underground, will feature platform screen doors for passenger safety and facilitating full air conditioning.