Abu Dhabi: A delegation from Etihad Rail Monday conducted a field visit to work sites for the first phase of the new railway in the Western Region.
The delegation, which included Mattar Al Tayer, the company's vice-chairman, and other officials from Etihad Rail, carried out the visit to inspect ongoing preparations and ensure that all parties involved are sufficiently prepared before the implementation of the first phase of the project.
Railway works are scheduled to start this year. The railway will be 264km long and will link the Shah, Habshan and Al Ruwais areas.
Tenders submitted
Construction is expected to start after the company invited tenders in March.
The first phase of the network will be built in cooperation with Adnoc, which will use the network to transport sulphur from the area of extraction in Shah and Habshan to Al Ruwais, the point were it will be exported.
Engineer Shadi Malak, Executive Director for Etihad Rail's Commercial Affairs, said that many technical and engineering studies were completed by the company. He added that the company had also approved the blueprint for this phase of the project.
"The project will now shift from the planning stage to the construction stage.
"Preliminary works are expected to begin in the coming few months to go hand in hand with the time schedule that has been determined beforehand with our partners at Adnoc," he said.
