Abu Dhabi: The tendering process for Phase 2 of Etihad Rail will start in the next few weeks, its chief executive officer Richard Bowker said here yesterday.

"We are looking at the contract award next year," Bowker told delegates at a MEED conference.

He said the Union Railway is about to begin construction of Phase I, the contract for which was awarded last month.

Etihad Rail — formerly known as Union Railway, the master developer and operator of the UAE's first railway network — will construct 1,200 kilometres of railway routes in the nationwide project valued at Dh40 billion. It will be completed by 2018.

The network's aim is to support the country's economic development, enhance transportation infrastructure and improve investment potential of the UAE through offering an alternative transport network.

The Etihad Rail network is poised to connect the emirates and link the UAE to Saudi Arabia via Ghweifat in the west and to Oman via Al Ain in the east.

The project will be completed in three phases: Phase I of the project incorporates the Shah-Habshan-Ruwais route, with the link between Habshan and Ruwais scheduled to be completed in early 2013 and that between Shah and Habshan by the end of 2014.

Phase 2 involves the construction of the remainder of the Abu Dhabi Emirate Network and a connection to Dubai, covering areas such as Mussaffah and the Khalifa and Jebel Ali ports.

The final phase will cover the rest of the network in the northern emirates.

Etihad Rail, which is 70 per cent owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi and 30 per cent by the Federal Government, expects to transport 50 million tonnes of cargo during the first phase.

The locomotives will run on diesel, but there will be provision for electrification if traffic demands it. The freight trains will run at speeds of 120 km/h and passenger trains at up to 200 km/h.

$6b for Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi's Zones Corporation has attracted investments worth $6 billion (Dh22.03 billion) in its industrial cities to date, chief executive Mohammad Hasan Al Qamzi said yesterday,

"The investments have been made by local and foreign investors in Abu Dhabi's Industrial Cities I, II and III (ICAD -I,II, III) and Al Ain industrial cities I & II," Al Qamzi told reporters on the sidelines of a MEED conference.

Samer Mohammad Al Haira, another ZonesCorp senior official, said the cost of building the infrastucture in the industrial cities is Dh3.5 billion.

"We will be announcing ICAD IV and ICAD V very soon," said Al Haira, adding there will also be announcements with regard to an Auto City and a logistics hub, which would together span 10-11 square kilometres.

He said the proposed Auto City will be the place for workshops and vehicle auctions while the logistics hub will mainly have the warehouses.

Al Haira said the number of labour camps in Abu Dhabi would be doubled in the near future. Currently, there are 17 labour camps in Abu Dhabi which accommodate about 300,000 workers.