Etihad Rail passengers can now rent cars for as little as Dh80 a day, with fuel included and no security deposit. The new Rail to Road service aims to solve first- and last-mile connectivity for travelers arriving at railway stations. The service is currently available at the Abu Dhabi and Fujairah stations through Thrifty Car Rental’s Flexy product.
The rental plans start at Dh80 and go up to Dh200 per day. Fuel will be included in the package with the 60-kilometer free ride limit. The passenger can buy more mileage at an additional cost.
There is no need to leave a security deposit, as Thrifty will tokenize the payment card. It eliminates the necessity for clients to lock some funds as a deposit. The rental time is 24 hours and is independent of the train schedule. The service offers three vehicle categories. The Essential category covers hatchbacks and smaller sedans, including models such as the Toyota Yaris, Baleno and Hyundai Accent.
The Comfort category includes larger sedans and compact SUVs, with examples such as the Mazda CX-3, Hyundai Creta and Mazda 6. The Stretch category offers larger and premium vehicles, including the Audi A3, Mazda CX-90, Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Patrol and Jeep Wrangler.
The Rail to Road initiative comes under an exclusive five-year partnership between Etihad Rail and Thrifty. Thrifty can make investments of more than Dh10 million over five years in terms of fleet development and digital facilities.
The first fleet will consist of 500 cars, which will be expanded in case there is increased need for passengers. There will also be digital kiosks and customer service counters in all 11 Etihad Rail stations that carry passengers.
The first passenger train service of Etihad Rail was launched on June 30 from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah. This rail system will be expanded further to link rail services to road transport services within the UAE.
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