Abu Dhabi: The UAE plans to get its first operating railway track in 2013-14 with trains expected to transport granulated sulphur from the Shah and Habshan fields of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to Ruwais, Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of the Union Railway, said in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
"The line will be used to transport freight, but may also be used to transport passengers," Al Nowais told delegates at a Meed (Middle East Economic Digest) conference.
"The project implementation schedule is 5-7 years. We will begin awarding the contracts starting 2010," he added.
Al Nowais had previously indicated that the proposed countrywide rail network is estimated to cost between Dh25 billion and Dh30 billion.
Strategic initiative
The Union Railway is in advanced stages of discussion and coordination with Adnoc to explore transporting more than 7 million tonnes a year of granulated sulphur from the Shah and Habshan oil and gas fields into Ruwais, Al Nowais said at the conference.
The strategic initiative will support Adnoc's ongoing investment programme in the Shah and Habshan oil and gas fields and contribute to the development of the oil, natural gas and petrochemical industries in the country, he said.
Additionally, it will help to accelerate the development of the Western Region, in line with Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, he said.
"This section of the railway will be fast-tracked to meet Adnoc's schedule and requirements," Al Nowais added.
Al Nowais said connecting the Shah and Habshan fields with Ruwais will add nearly 300 kilometres to the originally planned 1,100 kilometre countrywide railway network.
He said the freight transporation target for Union Railway in the first phase of operations is 30 million metric tonnes.
Passenger traffic target
The passenger traffic target will be set in the next few weeks when a traffic study is concluded, Al Nowais added.
He said the UAE railway network will be built to international standards.
The trains will run at speeds between 80 and 120 kilometres per hour for freight transport and between 160 and 200 kilometres per hour for passenger transport.
Union Railway was established in 2009 under Federal Law No. 2 with a mandate to manage the development, construction and operation of the UAE's national railway.
The railway will be built to link the principal centres of population and industry of the UAE, and will be part of the planned GCC railway network at a later stage. There will be a railway line connecting Al Ghweifat on the border with Saudi Arabia to Fujairah and another from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain all the way to the UAE's border with Oman.
