Emirates Railways gradually moving on the right track

Dubai: Emirates Railways, the country's future national rail network, will be part of a GCC-wide rail network currently under study, officials say.

It will be more than 700 km-long and will link Abu Dhabi with Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah in the east with Ruwais and Ghowaifat in the west.

"We are confident that the Emirates Railways can be transformed into a major freight transportation system throughout the region," said General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, in a statement.

"Such railways will consolidate the role played by the UAE in an endeavour to make it the logistic services' Eastern gateway to the Middle East and global markets," he added. 

He sanctioned funds for a comprehensive feasibility study that will examine technical and financial aspects of a possible partnership between the private and public sectors.

The move follows Dubai's effort to establish the region's first urban light rail system and comes at a time when the feasibility of a GCC-wide rail network is being studied by governments of the six-nation block that is planning to integrate the economies by 2010.

"This will be done through strengthening the intra-Arab trade and expediting joint Gulf and Arab action via connecting border points with modern means of transportation, thus serving as a major bridge for development and a booster of the region's economies," he said.

Shaikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Planning and Economy Department, said a preliminary study had already been done where all rail transport and other options were analysed.

Private sector is expected to play a major role in the construction and maintainance of the project.

"Today, we are striving to lure the private sector to partner with us to implement this project," Shaikh Mohammad said.

Industry officials, meanwhile, hailed the move as a logical next step.

Issa Baluch, immediate past president of Fiata (the international federation of freight forwarders associations) welcomed the announcement as a very courageous step forward.

"It is eco-friendly and exceptionally fuel efficient. It will create extra opportunities within the nation for moving goods. There are so many plus points that eventhough it will need huge investment, but it is a step in the right direction," Baluch told Gulf News.

He noted that in Europe tolls are levied excessively to discourage road transport and to encourage people to use rail transport.