With the UAE taking the lead, one project set to gain immensely from the GCC power grid is the Etihad Rail, the master developer and operator of the UAE's first railway network — formerly known as Union Railway.
The $40 billion UAE rail network is being designed to link all of the country's major population hubs, as well as connect to Saudi Arabia via Ghweifat in the west and Oman via Al Ain in the east. Once completed, the network is expected to transport about 50 million tonnes of freight and 16 million passengers.
The extensive rail network is aimed at further growing the UAE as a logistics hub for businesses and industries in the region and beyond.
"Infrastructure projects laid already such as the GCC power grid would certainly help in the smooth implementation of the future projects like Etihad Rail. It is simpler and easier to go with the other infrastructure projects once they are already in place," Abhay Bhargava, Industry Manager, Energy and Power Systems Practice, Mena, Frost & Sullivan, told Gulf News.
He added that Etihad Rail would immensely benefit from the cross power infrastructure in the GCC region.
The first phase of the project is due to start in June, Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority, told Gulf News during the UITP 2011 transport event earlier this month.
He said: "I hope that the UAE's first railway network including freight rail and passenger rail would be fully operational by 2017. In June we will be starting the first phase of the UAE rail network between Habshan and Ruwais. It would be connected within the emirates as well as connecting the UAE to Oman and Saudi Arabia."
In the UAE alone, the rail network will extend about 1,200km, and is expected to transport about 50 million tonnes of freight and 16 million passengers over the next 20 to 30 years.
