Oman Rail and Etihad Rail agree on 3-billion-dollar cross-border railway
Oman Rail and Etihad Rail have agreed to jointly build a new 303-kilometre cross-border railway line that will link the Omani port of Sohar to the UAE National Rail Network. The line will be equally owned by the newly established Oman-Etihad Rail Company.
The Oman-Etihad Rail Company will oversee the investment of 3 billion dollars (3.14 billion euros) into the design, development and construction of the new railway connection, which is targeting benefits in the field of tourism, logistics and global trade.
Using the new line, travel time for passenger trains between Sohar and Abu Dhabi will be reduced to 1 hour and 40 minutes. As trains will be travelling at 200 kilometres per hour, travel time between Sohar and Al Ain will be only 47 minutes in the future. Rail freight will stand to benefit too, as the new line enables speeds of up to 120 kilometres for freight trains.
Set up on Wednesday, the Oman-Etihad Rail Company will now begin devising a work plan for the construction schedule. No details where shared on this front.
“The envisioned network will complement our comprehensive set of ports and logistics assets, augment our competitiveness and open faster access to global markets”, Abdulrahman Salim Al Hatmi, Group CEO of Asyad, said. Oman Rail is part of the Asyad Group.
“The railway also promises huge strategic economic and social gains as it promotes a more diverse robust national economy, upgrades infrastructure and logistic services, drives forward travel and tourism, and ultimately improves the quality of life for communities on both sides of the borders by supporting the various strategic initiatives of the governments of Oman and the UAE,” he added.
