Abu Dhabi – UAE national railway company Etihad Rail approved an AED 4.6 billion (USD 1.25 billion) contract for construction of 145 km worth of railways in the country, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported this Wednesday (18).
Package D, Stage Two will link up the ports of Fujairah and Khorfakkan to the national railway network at the Dubai-Sharjah border.
Construction will be handled by a joint venture formed by the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) and the UAE’s National Projects and Construction (NPC). Plans include 15 tunnels spanning 16 km across the Hajar Mountains, 35 bridges and 32 underpasses.
The project is particularly relevant to the building material industry, since it will provide access to quarries in northern UAE. The railway links to ports in Fujairah and Khorfakkan is expected to bring transportation capacity to some 2 million TEU per year, plus 30 million tonnes of building material hauled out to distribution centers Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Etihad Rail’s mandate tasks it with establishing a 1,200 km network. Stage 1 became operational in 2016 spanning 264 km. Contracts for the four Stage Two packages have been awarded this year.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
