Oman, UAE plan $3 billion investment to link railway network

Oman and the United Arab Emirates plan to link their rail network with an investment of 1.16 billion rials ($3 billion) as oil-rich Gulf nations work on projects to connect their trainlines. 

Oman Rail and Etihad Rail plan to create a joint company to link the sultanate’s container and commodities port of Sohar with the UAE’s network, according to state-run Oman News Agency. The railway will cover a distance of 303 kilometers.

While passenger trains will operate at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, cargo trains will move at 120 kilometers per hour.

The Omani port is located outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping chokepoint at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Sohar is expanding to serve as a container, food and chemicals entrepot for the Arabian Peninsula.

Etihad Rail, which will provide both freight and passenger services when complete, is proposed to extend from the border of Saudi Arabia to Oman and eventually link up with a planned network across the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council countries.