Etihad Rail is gearing up to launch construction tenders for the second phase of the UAE federal railway network, it was announced on Thursday.

"The second phase will connect the UAE sea ports and the first phase. Etihad Rail is looking to appoint project managers for this phase," said Abdullah bin Mohammed Belhaif Al-Nuaimi, the UAE's Minister of Infrastructure Development and chairman of the Federal Transport Authority-Land & Maritime, at a press conference in Dubai, where he also announced approval of a new federal rail law by the UAE cabinet.

The second phase of the Etihad Rail project will connect the railway to Mussafah, to Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, and to the Saudi and Omani borders, according to Etihad Rail's website.

The company is looking to appoint project management and engineering consultants to start the tendering process for second phase construction, according to documents provided by the Federal Transport Authority-Land & Maritime at the press conference.

The documents said Etihad Rail will update and complete the design and open the tenders to start construction in the coming months, although no details were provided about a timeline either for tendering or contract awards.

Etihad Rail was established in June 2009 under Federal Law no. 2. It has a mandate to manage the development, construction and operation of the UAE's national freight and passenger railway network.

The 264-kilometre Stage 1, which started commercial operations in 2015, transports granulated sulphur from Shah and Habshan to the port of Ruwais.

Procurement had also begun for Stage 2, but in January 2016, the company announced that it had "suspended the tendering process for Stage 2 of the project, while it reviews the most appropriate options for the timing and delivery of this phase".

In March 2017, Thomson Reuters Projects reported that Etihad Rail had updated its design to extend the rail project. It said the revised design included additional freight lines as well as passenger lines that were not included in earlier versions of the network map.

The 1,200-km UAE national railway is eventually envisaged to connect all seven emirates and link to the other five countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

(Reporting by Anoop Menon; Editing by Michael Fahy)

(anoop.menon@thomsonreuters.com)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles

 

 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.

For more data, analytics, tools and news on projects in the Middle East visit the Thomson Reuters Projects portal

 

© ZAWYA 2018