Etihad Rail awards contract to design, build UAE railway to Chinese, Korean JV
Contract includes works on Ruwais-Ghuwaifat route on UAE-Saudi Arabia border
Dubai: Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE’s upcoming railway, approved package A of the tender awards for the second stage of the network.
The contract was awarded to a joint venture between the China State Construction Engineering Corporation and South Korea’s SK Engineering and Construction.
The package includes all design and build, civil and track works of the 139-kilometre package A of Stage Two of the network to connect Ruwais with Ghuwaifat on the UAE border with Saudi Arabia. Stage two, when complete, will run for 605 kilometres from Ghuwaifat to the port of Fujairah, Etihad Rail said.
The developer did not disclose the value of the contract award.
Shaikh Theyab Bin Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Executive Council member and chairman of Etihad Rail, said the company is reaching a “major turning point” in the transportation sector in the UAE and GCC.
“This initial link is just the beginning, as Etihad Rail expands its network to improve all aspects of freight transport across our border and around the region, placing the UAE at the centre of regional goods movement as a global logistics hub,” he said in a statement.