Gulf railway project to cost $15.5b

Riyadh: The total cost of the joint Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) railway project is put at $15.5 billion, around $10 billion lower than previously estimated, according to Ramiz Al Assar, Senior Chief Representative in the GCC Secretariat General, and senior transport specialist at the World Bank.

He said the previous estimate was $26 billion. He added the suggestion of reducing the speed of the train from 350 kilometres per hour (km/h) to 200 km/h, which was approved by the recent GCC leaders Summit in Kuwait, has cut the cost by at least $10 billion.

In a report he presented to the Saudi Ministry of Transport, Al Assar said the GCC states did not request foreign finance for this huge project. "Member states will bear the costs of the project," he added.

He pointed out that there is an agreement between the Arab Mashreq states and the GCC states for a joint railway grid. He added that the role of the World Bank would be confined to consultations and technical matters. "The World Bank is not involved in the project's feasibility studies," he said.

In an earlier statement, Al Assar said the project will facilitate and integrate transport links among all six GCC member states, leading to economic growth and creating job opportunities at local levels.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is working to have its different regions linked via railway as well as the operation of the Al Haramain train to link Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah which was commissioned last year to serve pilgrims.