Phase Two to extend 605km from Saudi border to Fujairah
The UAE Ministry of Finance and the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance have signed an agreement for the financing of Stage Two of the Etihad Rail national rail network, the UAE National News Agency WAM has reported.
The second stage will extend 605 kilometres from Ghuweifat on the border with Saudi Arabia to Fujairah on the east coast, to be followed by future route additions. The volume of goods transported will increase from seven million tons per year on Stage One to more than fifty million tons. Following the agreement, work on Phase Two is expected to commence shortly.
The agreement signing ceremony was attended by HH Sheikh Theyab Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Transport and Chairman of the Etihad Rail Board of Directors.
Obaid Bin Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and Riyad Abdul Rahman Al Mubarak, Head of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance, and Etihad Rail, co-signed the agreement.
“The budget approval for Stage Two of the United Arab Emirates’ national railway network reflects the keenness of our leadership to implement national strategic projects,” affirmed Sheikh Theyab Bin Mohammed.
Etihad Rail has taken major strides in 2018, most importantly the completion of the preliminary designs of Stage Two of the project in preparation for the launch of tenders for civil construction works by the end of this month.
In 2015, Stage One of the project, which extends 264 km, was delivered, linking the Shah and Habshan gas fields in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi to the port of Ruwais on the Arabian Gulf, with a capacity of transferring 22,000 tons of sulphur granules daily; 20 million tons have been carried in total.
Etihad Rail is now in advanced stages of commercial and technical negotiations with an extended range of potential partners.
