Etihad Rail project is moving as per schedule

Dubai: The first of the three-phase Etihad Rail project has been accomplished and the UAE Government has released Dh700 million as an initial allotment to start construction on the second phase, Minister of Public Works, Abdullah Bel Haif Al Nuaimi, has announced.

Addressing a press conference yesterday to brief the media on the forthcoming MENA Rail Conference and Exhibition, which is scheduled to be held in Dubai on March 17 to 18, he also revealed that the contract for phase 2 of the Etihad Rail project has been awarded.

“The Etihad Rail project is on track and it is moving as per schedule. The government is funding phase two of the project because this has immense strategic value and we will make sure the project is delivered on time,” said Al Nuaimi, who is also Chairman of the Federal Transport Authority (FTA).

The 628-kilometre-long Phase Two connects the 264-kilometre-long Phase One to Musaffah and Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, Jebel Ali in Dubai and to the Saudi and Omani borders. Phase One, which was completed at a cost of Dh4.7 billion, runs between Shah and Habshan to Ruwais in Abu Dhabi. The 1,200-km Etihad Rail line will link major industrial zones, cities and ports, connecting all the emirates of the UAE, and will eventually connect with the GCC railway.

He said that the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are in line with the set schedule but not all Gulf countries will be ready by 2018, and hence 2020 has been set as maximum timeframe for the project.

“When the project was first announced in 2008, it was scheduled to be ready by 2018. From our side we are ready and Saudi officials have also confirmed that they are ready but we don’t have similar confirmations from other GCC countries. A GCC transport ministers’ meeting is scheduled in November and we will only have a clear picture then,” he said.

The 2,177km-long GCC rail network will link all six GCC states by rail for the first time, providing an alternative to air or sea travel for both goods and passengers in the region.

“We are all working towards a common goal. All the parties have agreed on the technology to be used and other specifications. Each country will link its rail line as and when it is ready and the network will be operated in a unified system,” he said.