Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE National Rail Network, announced on Tuesday the completion of the 256-kilometre long railway segment linking Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The state-owned company said in a statement that the final part of the railway track connecting the two emirates was jointly installed by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court and Chairman of Etihad Rail.

The Dubai-Abu Dhabi segment, according to the press statement, included 29 bridges, 60 crossings and 137 drainage channels. The total excavation and backfill work amounted 46 million cubic metres, with the participation of 13,300 workers, recording more than 47 million working hours.

Last week, Etihad Rail had signed an agreement with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) for financing railway passenger transport services with a total value of 1.990 billion UAE dirhams ($542 million).

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)