“Middle East, North Africa and Central and South Asia regions implement the largest transport and shipping projects in the world, with more that USD 642 billion of investment planned for railways. Our 2021 Vision pushes to look forward at the land transport role within the economy and for this we are focusing of rail transport development. We are trying to speed up all rail projects in order to achieve our schedule. We are interested in implementing the new technologies, and the railway sector is a huge platform for research and development. To implement the rail transport projects, we encourage the private sector to invest, and together we can develop the rail system and its technology,” Abdulla Bilhaif Al-Nuaimi, Chairman of the Board Directors of UAE Federal Transport Authority said, during the Middle East Rail 2017.
Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE’s national railway, implements projects to develop the railway network that will extend across the country from the border of Saudi Arabia to the border of Oman. The network will run from Ghweifat to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Northern Emirates with major connecting points in between, including Al Ain and Madinat Zayed.
The rail strategy is implemented into 3 phases; within the first one, Etihad Rail launched the commercial activity in December 2015; under the second stage that involves the construction of 628 km of new lines, from the rest of Abu Dhabi Emirates network and the connection to Dubai. In January 2016, the company has suspended the tendering process on the construction of the second phase of its railway network. The project was estimated at USD 11 billion. But, according to the company, the suspension was for the review of appropriate options for the timing and delivery of this phase of the project, with no impact on its implementation.
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