Yemen invites bids to build its first railway

Yemen's Ministry of Transport invited bids for a contract to manage construction of the country's first railway, which will link the nation with its oil-rich Gulf neighbours.

Three rail lines will be built: one along the coastline from Yemen's northwestern border with Saudi Arabia to the eastern border with Oman and two connecting the northwestern population centers to Red Sea and Arabian Sea ports, according to a tender notice in the state-run Al Thawra newspaper today.

The lines will connect with a 1,500-kilometre (930-mile) regional freight rail network that's scheduled to be completed by 2017. The network is to be built in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.