Yemen to roll out passenger and cargo railway project in July

Sana'a: Yemen will launch a rail project worth $3.5 billion (Dh12.84 billion) in July. The line will pass through the main port of Aden, to Oman, where it will join a network linking the six Gulf Cooperation Council states, an official said in an interview.

The 2,500-kilometre passenger and cargo network will run from the Saudi border along the Yemeni coast, Transport Minister Khalid Al Wazeer said.

Bidding for the main 2,000-kilometre coastal line begins in July after Yemen conducted a feasibility study with UN help for the railway. No construction work has begun till date.

The Yemeni government is in talks with several railway firms in Britain, Germany, Russia, India, the US and other countries and will offer the deal on a build-operate-transfer basis for 30-35 years, Al Wazeer said.

Under such an agreement an investor typically builds and runs an infrastructure project on behalf of a government for a limited time.

"We hope to find an investor, that would be the better. If we don't, then we would look for other opportunities and turn to international institutions," Al Wazeer said.

Transport: Massive project

$3.5b - cost of the rail project planned by Yemen

2,500 - railway line's proposed length in kilometres